Journal: Arabian Journal of Chemistry

Authors: Thang Phan Nguyen, Quoc Ba Tran, Quang Viet Ly, Le Thanh Hai, Duc Trung Le, Minh Bao Tran, Thi Thanh Tam Ho, Xuan Cuong Nguyen, Mohammadreza Shokouhimehr, Dai-Viet N. Vo, Su Shiung Lam, Huu-Tuan Do, Soo Young Kim, Tra Van Tung, Quyet Van Le

IF: 4.039

Abstract: Increasing discharge and inadequate removal of pharmaceutical compounds pose significant concerns over global aquatic systems and human health. The accomplishment of affordable and safe water requires a stringent elimination of these micropollutants. This study evaluated the performance of Visible/N-doped TiO₂ and Visible/N-doped TiO₂/H₂O₂ processes using a sub[1]merged photocatalytic membrane reactor (SMPR) with suspended N-doped TiO₂ to address the removal of diclofenac (DCF). The kinetic and pathway of photodegradation of DCF were of particular interest in this study. The initial DCF concentrations upon the experiments were also exam[1]ined using a wide range of 5–50 mg/L and 20–100 mg L^-1 for Vis/N-doped TiO₂, and Vis/N-doped TiO₂/H₂O₂, respectively. The results indicated that higher initial concentration reduces the efficiency of the process, but one with H2O2 demonstrated an enhanced performance. The experimental data were found to fit well a pseudo-first-order kinetic model. Our findings demonstrated the analogous pathways of DCF for both processes. The Vis/N-doped TiO₂/H₂O₂ tends to hasten the degradation rate as evidenced by the disappearance of some DCF byproducts at a sim[1]ilar irradiation period as compared to the other. The study provided useful information of the degradation rate and the potential formation of DCF intermediates upon the hybrid photocatalytic systems, therefore being of importance for scaling-up as well as evaluating potential detoxification of DCF upon the novel photocatalytic system