TIO2/Nanoclay nanocomposite for phenol degradation in sonophotocatalytic reactor

A TiO2–nanoclay nanocomposite was used as a photocatalyst for the degradation of phenol in presence of acoustic cavitation. TiO2–nanoclay nanocomposite was synthesised in benzyl alcohol medium wherein TiO2 nanoparticles were formed between the nanoclay platelets. The synthesised product was characterised by using FTIR, XRD and TEM techniques. TEM image shows that TiO2–nanoclay nanocomposite particles were in the range of 30–40 nm. XRD gram confirms the formation of nanocomposite of TiO2 nanoclay. The effect of cavitation and TiO2–nanoclay nanocomposite photocatalyst on phenol removal was investigated. The effects of various parameters such as nanocomposite loading, initial concentration, etc., have been studied. On comparing the results obtained with that of nanocomposite without UV, it was found for an initial concentration of 500 mg/L of phenol, the TiO2–nanoclay nanocomposite exhibited higher percentage of pollutant removal (59%) and for nanoclay it was 47%. © 2011 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering