Photochemical Studies on Degradation of Cetyl Pyridinium Chloride (Cationic Surfactant) in Aqueous Phase Using Different Photocatalysts

Abstract

The photocatalytic process using semiconductors with a nanostructure is one of the technologies used<br />for the destructive oxidation of organic compounds such as surfactants. In this paper, the<br />photocatalytic degradation of Cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC), was investigated in aqueous phase<br />using various semiconductors such as titanium dioxide (Ti02), zinc oxide (ZnO), stannic oxide<br />(Sn02). The degradation was studied under different conditions including the amount of<br />photocatalyst, pH of the system, initial concentration and presence of anions. The results showed that<br />the photocatalytic degradation of CPC was strongly influenced by these parameters and the best<br />conditions for the photocatalytic degradation of CPC were obtained. The experimental results<br />indicated that maximum degradation (87%) of surfactant occurred when ZnO was used as catalyst.<br />The photodegradation efficiency was enhanced by increasing amount of photocatalyst, and decreases<br />with the increase in the initial concentration of Cetyl pyridinium chloride. Finally, the kinetics<br />process was studied and the photodegradation rate of CPC was found to obey pseudo-first-order<br />kinetics equation represented by the Langmuir—Hinshelwood model.