Photocatalytic degradation of camphor by suspended and immobilized photocatalysts

In this work, the degradation of aqueous solution of camphor by heterogeneous photocatalysis was study using suspended and supported TiO2 and ZnO. The supported catalysts (TiO2/borosilicate reaching ring, TiO2/calcium alginate and ZnO/calcium alginate) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and Raman spectroscopy, techniques that permitted to confirm the porosity of the material as well as the characteristic crystalline forms (anatase and wurtzite). The degradation efficiency of the supported photocatalysts was compared with the performance of free TiO2 and ZnO, observing comparable results between conventional Degussa P25 TiO2 and TiO2 immobilized in glass-rings. On the other hand, the use of calcium alginate beads leads to lower degradation efficiency probably due to the significant area reduction observed in immobilized systems.