Nanocatalyst support of laser-induced photocatalytic degradation of MTBE

Abstract

This study was undertaken to develop a methodology suitable for the direct removal and degradation of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in water using different nano-catalysts supported laser based photo-oxidation process. For this purpose, nano-structured WO₃ catalyst was synthesized in our laboratory and its photocatalytic activity for the demineralization of MTBE in water was compared with different catalysts such as ZnO, TiO₂, Fe₂O₃ and NiO using 355 nm laser radiations generated by the third harmonic of Nd: YAG laser. The effect of laser irradiation time, amount of catalysts and pH were also investigated for the optimization of MTBE removal process. For 60 min of laser exposure time, the overall percentage of MTBE degradation was found to be 93%, 89%, 82%, 80% and 71% for WO₃, ZnO, Fe₂O_3, NiO and TiO_2, respectively. In addition the photonic efficiencies of different nano-structured catalysts toward degradation of MTBE were estimated, and they were found to follow the trend of WO₃ > ZnO > Fe₂O₃ > NiO > TiO₂.

Keywords:

• MTBE
• photo-oxidation
• photocatalysis
• WO₃
• ZnO
• Fe₂O₃
• NiO
• TiO₂
• waste water purification
• laser applications

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, for funding this work through project no. SB090020.