Water pollution has become a major environmental issue in recent times. Phenolic compounds are readily absorbed by the inhalation, oral, and dermal routes. Many industries release their waste into the aqueous environment with minimal treatment. Titanium dioxide has been used as the photocatalyst for waste water treatment because it is non-toxic, biologically safe, and resistant to photocorrosion and is relatively inexpensive to produce. However, bare TiO2 has low quantum efficiency. This research work explores the feasibility of degrading phenol by using titania-silica mixed oxide materials. Several different titania-silica catalysts have been prepared and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction studies (XRD), nitrogen adsorption, Infrared Spectroscopy (IR) and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopic (DRS) studies. The degradation of phenol has been monitored by using the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) content and Liquid Chromatography (LC) studies. Near complete degradation of phenol has been achieved within three to six hours.

Photocatalytic degradation of phenol over titania-silica mixed oxide materials

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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