title: Photocatalytic degradation of resorcinol, an endocrine disrupter, by TiO2 and ZnO suspensions.
abstract: In the work presented here, photocatalytic systems using TiO2 and ZnO suspensions were utilized to evaluate the degradation of resorcinol (ReOH). The effects of catalyst concentration and solution pH were investigated and optimized using multivariate analysis based on response surface methodology. The results indicated that ZnO showed greater degradation and mineralization activities compared to TiO2 under optimized conditions. Using certain radical scavengers, a positive hole, together with the participation of hydroxyl radicals, were the oxidative species responsible for ReOH degradation on TiO2 whereas, the ZnO photocatalysis occurred principally via hydroxyl radicals. Some hitherto unreported pathway intermediates of ReOH degradation were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A tentative reaction mechanism for the formation of these intermediates was proposed. Moreover, the figure-of-merit electrical energy per order was employed to estimate the electrical energy consumption.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sze-Mun
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Jin-Chung
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sin
authors.forename: Ahmad Zuhairi
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.forename: Abdul Rahman
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Mohamed
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D007220:Industrial Waste; D008958:Models, Molecular; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D012107:Research Design; D012118:Resorcinols / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D007220:Industrial Waste; D012118:Resorcinols; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D015034:Zinc Oxide; C031389:resorcinol