PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF A REFRACTORY WATER POLLUTANT USING NANOSIZED CATALYSTS

International audienceThe present study provides results describing the successful photodegradation of a refractory pharmaceutical compound, named clofibric acid (CA) over different nanosized catalysts. Obtained data clearly showed that the investigated catalysts can be employed successfully for the elimination of CA. It was observed that the removal of the target molecule was enhanced in the presence of zinc oxide (100 mg/l) and UV-A. Indeed, under laboratory scale conditions, more than 93% of pollutant was eliminated after an irradiation time of 30 min using a stirred reactor artificially illuminated operating in batch mode. Additionally, the effect of different process parameters (catalyst load, pollutant concentration and light intensity) was studied in detail. The obtained data revealed that the removal of pollutant was effective after 15 min of reaction using a maximum catalyst concentration (1 g/l), 5 mg/l of clofibric acid and the maximum light intensity. Overall, this work confirms the relevance of the photocalytic process for the successful elimination of this refractory water pollutant