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Photocatalytic degradation of the acetaminophen by nanocrystal-engineered TiO2 thin film in batch and continuous system

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Abstract

Un-biodegradable pharmaceuticals are one of the major growing threats in the wastewaters. In the current study, TiO2 thin film photocatalysts were designed by nanocrystal engineering and fabricated for degradation of the acetaminophen (ACE) in a photocatalytic reaction under UV light irradiation in batch and continuous systems. The photocatalyst was prepared by sputtering and then engineered by thermal treatment (annealing at 300°C (T300) and 650°C (T650)). The annealing effects on the crystallinity and photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 film were completely studied; it was found that annealing at higher temperatures increases the surface roughness and grain size which are favorable for photocatalytic activity due to the reduction in the recombination rate of photo-generated electron-hole pairs. For the continuous system, a flat plate reactor (FPR) was designed and manufactured. The photocatalytic performance was decreased with the increase of flow rate because the higher flow rate caused to form the thicker film of the liquid in the reactor and reduced the UV light received by photocatalyst. The reusability and durability of the samples after 6 h of photocatalytic reaction showed promising performance for the T650 sample (annealed samples in higher temperatures).

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Singapore International Graduate Award (SING-2015-02-0351).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117576, Singapore

    Reza Katal & Jiangyong Hu

  2. Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore, 138634, Singapore

    Mohammad Tanhaei

Authors
  1. Reza Katal
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  2. Mohammad Tanhaei
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  3. Jiangyong Hu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiangyong Hu.

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Highlights

• Photocatalytic activity was improved in TiO2 thin film by rapid thermal annealing.

• Photoreactor was designed for TiO2 thin film.

• Considerable reusability and durability of prepared photocatalysts were studied.

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Katal, R., Tanhaei, M. & Hu, J. Photocatalytic degradation of the acetaminophen by nanocrystal-engineered TiO2 thin film in batch and continuous system. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 15, 27 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1319-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1319-9

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