Widely spread of chemically industry producing many types of environmentally pollutants (e.g dyes, herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, drugs, bacteria and others), most of these pollutants reach our drinking water resources, different strategies have been followed to purify contaminated water, one of the low-cost technology is using semiconductors as catalyst for photodegradation of water-organic contaminants. TiO₂ nano- and microparticles have been used for photo-degradation of widely spread water organic contaminants. Due to its wide band gap (~3.2 eV) TiO₂ photo-catalytic activity is limited to shorter wavelengths only (UV region). As only ~4% of the solar spectrum falls in the UV region, smaller bandgap semiconductors (e.g. CdS, with 2.3 eV) are used to sensitize TiO₂ particles. The TiO₂/CdS system has been used as a catalyst in water purification by photo-degradation of organic contaminants such as methyl orange and Phenazopyridine (Medically active compound). However, the TiO₂/CdS system is unstable under photodegradation conditions yielding hazardous Cd²⁺ ions. Alternative ZnO nanoparticles naked and substrate to different materials like (clay, sand, and activated carbon) were used in photodegradation process; also natural dyes (anthocyanin & Curcumin) were used as a sensitizer for the TiO₂ nanoparticles. The different prepared nano-catalyst systems were used to photo-degrade various contaminants of water and soil, such as methyl orange, phenazopyridine, paracetamol, phenols, and halo-phenols, with solar radiation. Furthermore, the ZnO nanoparticles were used in water purification and disinfection (from bacteria that cause water contamination) by complete mineralization under solar light. Different reaction parameters (such as catalytic efficiency, effects of catalyst concentration, catalyst recovery, contaminant concentration, temperature, pH and complete mineralization) will be discussed together.

Conference Title

ICAM-E2017

Conference Country

Palestine

Conference Date

Dec. 19, 2017 - Dec. 21, 2017

Conference Sponsor

Yildiz Technical University