Removal of Humic Acid in Water Using Novel Nanomaterials

The present study investigates the effectiveness of the photocatalytic degradation of humic acid (HA) in aqueous suspensions. Initial batch scale experiments and tests performed using the Continuous Flow Photoreactor have enabled the close inspection of the performance of the photocatalysts nano TiO2, and nano ZnO dispersions. These photocatalysts were used in aqueous dispersions employing medium-pressure mercury-vapour lamps emitting UV-A (λ = 400 nm) and UV-C (λ = 250 nm). Moreover, glass microfibre filters were embedded and coated with Laponite RD (synthetic polycrystalline swelling clay) in order to produce catalytic films to be used in small scale experiments to remove HA through filtration. The findings of this study shows that the HA adsorb highly onto the ZnO and TiO2 surface thus initiating photodegradation, the effectiveness of which steadily increases with irradiation time along with an increase in the biodegradability of HA.