Paper Title
Photocatalytic Degradation of Pentachlorophenol using Graphen-Tio2 Nanocomposite
Abstract
Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is one of the Ionizable hydrophobic organic pollutants that have various applications in
industry, agriculture and domestic due to antibacterial and antifungal properties. PCP is relatively stable and its degradation
is difficult through conventional wastewater treatment systems. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the photocatalytic
process efficiency of PCP removal in aqueous solution using graphene-TiO2 nanocomposite. This experimental study was
conducted by synthetic polluted water. Nanocomposite was synthetized with 1/10 ratio of graphene/TiO2 and characterized
by different analysis. A 6W UV-C lamp was used in this study. Pentachlorophenol concentration was determined by HPLC.
The effect of various parameters including pollutant concentration and catalyst concentration were studied. Results showed
that the removal efficiency increased by the increasing of contact time and the decreasing of PCP concentration. The
Increasing of catalyst concentration to 100 mg/L improved the removal efficiency, but a decreasing trend was observed after
this concentration. The maximum efficiency (83.4%) was achieved in optimum condition (catalyst concentration: 100 mg/L
and contact time: 60 min) with 100 mg/l PCP concentration. This study shows that graphene-TiO2 nanocomposite can be
used for removal of pentachlorophenol and similar compounds in photocatalytic process.
Keywords: Pentachlorophenol, Photocatalyst, Nanocomposite, Graphene, Titanium Dioxide.