Study of the photocatalytic degradation of an emerging pollutant in the presence of zinc oxide

Wassila, Hachi; Akila1, Yennoune; Yasmine, Bouhamidi; Farida, Kaouah

Algerian Journal of Engineering Research
Volume 3, Numéro 1, Pages 23-26
2019-06-01

Study Of The Photocatalytic Degradation Of An Emerging Pollutant In The Presence Of Zinc Oxide

Authors : Wassila Hachi . Akila1 Yennoune . Yasmine Bouhamidi . Farida Kaouah .

Abstract

The heterogeneous photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation technology (POA), which relies on the activation of a semiconductor in the presence of UV radiation. Semiconductors such as TiO2, ZnO, CdS, SnO2 have proven their activity under the effect of an appropriate wavelength radiation and are considered among the best photocatalysts. However, the research carried out so far has all shown that zinc oxide is a very interesting material because of its high photocatalytic activity, its stability under the conditions of use, and its relatively low cost. This has motivated the test of this semiconductor, i.e. zinc oxide, in the present study, in order to degrade an endocrine disrupter (BPA) by means of solar photocatalysis. A degradation rate of 93% was obtained after 90 minutes confirming the performance of the solar ZnO/UV system.