Degradation of phenol and <i style="">m</i>-cresol in aqueous solutions using indigenously developed microwave-ultraviolet reactor

Abstract

A MW-UV reactor was developed indigenously for degradation of aqueous phenol and <i style="">m</i>-cresol (degradation efficiency, MW-UV-TiO₂> UV-TiO₂> MW-TiO₂> MW-UV > UV > MW). Maximum degradation of phenol (85%) and <i style="">m</i>-cresol (92%) by MW-UV-TiO₂and MW-UV-TiO₂ was three folds faster in reaction time and catalyst requirement than UV-TiO₂ method. Degradation of phenol and <i style="">m</i>-cresol in reactor followed pseudo first order reaction and reaction rate (k) for MW-UV-TiO₂ was 2.2 times greater than UV-TiO₂ and greater (17 times for phenol and 22 times for <i style="">m</i>-cresol) than other processes. MW-UV-TiO₂ was 2.3 times more efficient in removal of TOC than conventional photocatalytic method.