Studies of Photocatalytic Degradation of Trace-Level MC-LR in Water on Thin Film of Titanium Dioxide

Abstract

MCs are produced by cyanobacteria and cause concerns in potable water due to toxicity. Conventional treatments are poor at removing MCs. In the present study, the photocatalytic degradation of MC-LR was conducted using nano-TiO2 thin film, prepared by sol-gel and dip-coating method, with UV 365nm irradiation. According to analysis results from solid-phase extraction combined with HPLC method, the trace-level MC-LR is easily to be removed by photocatalytic system. The degradation efficiency of MC-LR is influenced by the pH conditions, initial concentration due to adsorption of MC-LR on TiO2 thin film. The maximum initial rate of photocatalytic degradation occurs at pH 4 and over 95% of 20μg/L MC-LR is decomposed within 120min. The kinetic equations and parameters revealed that degradation reaction of trace level MC-LR, which depicted by pseudo first order kinetics process in appearance, was in accordance with Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetics model well, the corresponding rate constant k and Langmuir adsorption constant K were determined to be 19.72μg/l·min-1 and 6.57×10-4l/μg, respectively.