Sonophotocatalytic degradation of paracetamol using TiO2 and Fe3

Abstract

The degradation of paracetamol was studied by sonolysis, photocatalysis and sonophotocatalysis in the presence of homogeneous (Fe3+) and heterogeneous (TiO2) photocatalysts using 213 kHz ultrasound (US). The degradation rates obtained for sonolysis, photocatalysis and sonophotocatalysis using TiO2 (1 g/L) were about 8.3, 30.2 and 40.2 × 10-7 M min-1, respectively. In the case of reactions involving Fe3+, the degradation rates obtained were 26.1, 18.6 and 46.7 × 10-7 M min-1 for US + Fe 3+, UV + Fe3+ and US + UV + Fe3+, respectively. The above results indicate that the combination of sonolysis with photocatalysis (TiO2 or Fe3+) results in an additive effect from combining the two processes, w..