Removal of polyvinyl alcohol from aqueous solutions using P-25 TiO2 and ZnO photocataysts: A comparative study

Chia Chang Lin*, Ling Jung Hsu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

This investigation evaluates the effectiveness of P-25 TiO2 and ZnO in removing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH, photocatalyst dosage, initial PVA concentration, and UV wavelength on the removal efficiency of PVA were studied. Under acidic conditions, the removal efficiency of PVA using P-25 TiO2 exceeded that under alkaline conditions. However, the removal efficiency of PVA using ZnO under alkaline conditions exceeded that under acidic conditions. Additionally, the removal efficiency of PVA increased with photocatalyst dosage, but declined as the initial PVA concentration increased. The UV wavelength slightly affected the removal efficiency of PVA using P-25 TiO2, but dramatically affected that using ZnO. At UV-254nm, pH9, a photocatalyst dosage of 0.12g/L, and an initial PVA concentration of 20mg/L, the removal efficiencies of PVA using P-25 TiO2 and ZnO were 54% and 74%, respectively. Therefore, at UV-254nm and pH9, ZnO was more effective than P-25 TiO2.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)351-355
Number of pages5
JournalPowder Technology
Volume246
DOIs
StatePublished - 09 2013

Keywords

  • PVA
  • Photocatalytic degradation
  • Polyvinyl alcohol
  • TiO
  • ZnO

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