Activity enhacement of heterogeneous photocatalysts

Fotokatalitički procesi u današnje vrijeme pronalaze sve veću primjenu u zaštiti okoliša i industriji. Znanstvenici istražuju i razvijaju nove metode razgradnje štetnih organskih i anorganskih spojeva prisutnih u vodi, zraku, tlu i različitim industrijskim otpadnim tokovima, a pritom heterogeno-katalitički procesi imaju sve veću primjenu. Cilj ovog rada bio je analizirati proces fotokatalitičke razgradnje te ispitati mogućnosti potencijalnog poboljšanja rada fotokatalizatora pri fotokatalitičkoj razgradnji acetamiprida. Fotokatalitička razgradnja acetamiprida provedena je u anularnom fotoreaktoru na imobiliziranom sloju TiO2 te primjenom TiO2 u obliku suspenzije. Ispitan je utjecaj različitih radnih uvjeta, kao što su izvor i intenzitet zračenja te masa fotokatalizatora na brzinu razgradnje. Nađeno je da je razgradnja acetamiprida najučinkovitija uz djelovanje UV-C izvora zračenja. S porastom mase fotokatalizatora do optimalne vrijednosti raste brzina razgradnje, što je u skladu s očekivanjima. U realnim sustavima prednost imaju fotokatalizatori s imobiliziranim slojem fotokatlizatora. Za daljnji razvoj i primjenu fotoktalitičkih procesa potrebno je dodatno poboljšanje postojećih i razvoj novih fotokatalizatora što je moguće postići postupcima dopiranja.Photocatalytic processes are becoming more and more widely used in environmental protection and industry today. Scientists are investigating and developing new methods of degradation of harmful organic and inorganic compounds present in water, air, soil and various industrial waste streams, while heterogeneous catalytic processes are increasingly being used. The aim of this paper was to analyze the process of photocatalytic degradation and to examine the potential of photocatalyst enhancement of photocatalytic degradation of acetamiprid. The photocatalytic degradation of acetamiprid was performed in anular photoreactor on immobilized TiO2 layer and using TiO2 in suspension form. The impact of different conditions, such as the source and intensity of the radiation and the mass of the photocatalyst at the rate of degradation, is studied. It was found that the degradation of acetamiprid is most effective with the action of UV-C radiation sources. With the growth of photocatalyst mass up to optimum value, the rate of degradation increases, which is in line with expectations. In real systems, photocatalyters with an immobilized photocatalytic layer are preferred. For further development and application of photocatalytic processes, further improvement of the existing and development of new photocatalysts is needed, as can be achieved by doping methods