Photocatalytic degradation of phenol as a model pollutant by immobilized TiO₂

Abstract

TiO₂ has been immobilized in poly vinyl alcohol polymer network and successfully used for the degradation of phenol. The prepared PVA-TiO₂composite is completely insoluble in water. The diffuse reflectance stud y shows that the prepared polymer composite shows absorption in visible region as compared to the bare titanium dioxide. The immobilized TiO₂ shows remarkable degradation activity in the presence of UV as well as visible light. In the presence of visible light, after 5 hours irradiation, 72% degradation of phenol takes place while in the presence of UV light and 5 hours irradiation, 89% degradation of phenol takes

place. The support material (polyvinyl alcohol) is not degraded during the photocatalysis reaction and the net photocatalytic efficiency does not decrease after five runs. Diffuse reflectance study shows that the polymer composite is stable during the photocatalysis

reaction for a short time.