Degradation of Organic-Contaminants from Wastewater by Photocatalytic-Methods via TiO2 Thin Films-Preliminary Investigation

Abstract

The new focus on the Energy-Water Nexus is the ability to generate energy from wastewater treatment. In particular, contamination from agriculture extensive use of herbicides and pesticides lead to an important contamination of water supply. A four- step technology is being developed to recycle contaminated water and produce hydrogen as potential use in fuel cells. The technology is based on the use of TiO2 thin films to replace the current costly use of nanoparticles in batch-designed systems that requires elimination of the particles by filtration. The four steps involved in the technology include a- Manufacturing and characterization of the thin films, b-Testing the production of Hydrogen and comparison with other techniques, C-Testing the elimination of agricultural-based contaminants( such as herbicides) and d-Testing the combination  of step b and c to simultaneously produce hydrogen and decontaminate water. This work is focuses on the use of Advanced oxidation Technologies, specifically the use of photo-catalytic processes via deposited TiO2 films to degrade herbicides. The reactor equipped with the TiO2 thin films, has been applied to the degradation of contaminants via UV-photocatalytic methods.TiO2 thin coated film deposited on film is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM and TEM. This research is centered on the reduction kinetics of the pollutants by using thin film-based TiO2/Pt processes suitable for the potential simultaneous production of H2 (g) from wastewater needed.