Photodegradation of 17[alpha]-Ethynylstradiol on Nanostructured Material of Type WO.sub.3-SBA-15

The growing contamination from the use of endocrine deregulator (EDs) has made the scientific community come worrying, because of this, studies to eliminate these pollutants in the water resources have intensified. Among the processes used, 'Advanced Oxidative Processes' (AOP's) stands out, by means of heterogeneous photocatalysis for the removal of these organic pollutants present in the environment. The paper's main point is on the synthesis of photocatalysts WO.sub.3-SBA-15 in the molar ratios Si/W (10, 25, 50, and 75) and the photocatalytic activity in the degradation process of 17[alpha]-ethynylstradiol (EE2), present in several water contaminants. The catalysts prepared were characterized by XRD, XRF, Raman, FTIR, UV-vis, adsorption, and desorption of nitrogen, and to determine the photocatalytic activity, frequency of turnover (TOF) was used. Through the characterizations, it can be observed that insertion of nanoparticles in WO.sub.3 did not cause changes in the mesoporous structure of the SBA-15 and there is presence of monoclinic, triclinic, and orthorhombic phases of WO.sub.3. The photocatalytic activity showed to be dependent on the calcination temperature and the molar ratio of the catalysts WO.sub.3-SBA-15, being the sample WO.sub.3-SBA-15(50) at 600 °C which presented the greatest degradation potential in the degradation of 17[alpha]-ethynylstradiol, with 98%, using ultraviolet radiation, for 4 h. Moreover, reuse of the catalyst did not show significant losses after 4 cycles, with 82% in EE2 degradation.