Scientia Iranica

Scientia Iranica

Degradation of furfural in contaminated water by titanium and iron oxide nanophotocatalysts based on the natural zeolite (clinoptilolite)

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
Z. Esmaili
A.R. Solaimany Nazar
M. Farhadian
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
10.24200/sci.2017.4106
Abstract
In this study, the performance of advanced oxidation process using titanium and iron oxides based on the natural clinoptilolite zeolite (TiO2/Fe2O3/Clinoptilolite) as a nanophotocatalyst was studied, and the e ects of various factors on the furfural degradation, such as pH, dosage of catalyst, initial concentration of furfural, and contact time, were examined. The co-precipitation method was applied for the synthesis of the nanophotocatalyst. The SEM and XRD analyses showed a uniform distribution of titanium dioxide and iron nanoparticles on the zeolite. The furfural degradation could successfully happen at neutral to alkaline solutions. Moreover, increasing the amount of catalyst from 0.5 to 1.5 g/L does not have signi cant effects on the degradation eciency. By enhancing the initial concentration of furfural from 75 to 300 mg/L, the rate of degradation decreases. The maximum eciency of 98% could be achieved for 75 mg/L solution by using 1.5 g/L catalyst in pH equal to 8 within 120 minutes.
Keywords
Advanced oxidation process
Contaminated water
Furfural
Nano photocatalyst
Titanium oxide
Subjects
Scientia Iranica
Volume 24, Issue 3
Transactions on Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (C)
May and June 2017
Pages 1221-1229

  • Receive Date 14 June 2015
  • Revise Date 02 December 2016
  • Accept Date 24 April 2017