Immobilized TiO₂/chitosan beads for photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

Advancement in photocatalysis is focused on large-scale commercialization where the immobilization techniques gain attention with an aim to recover and reuse the catalyst for the redemption of pollutants. TiO₂ will act as a potential catalyst and chitosan, a natural biopolymer is used to immobilize TiO₂. 2,4-Dicholorophenoxyacetic acid, a common broadleaf pesticide found in surface and groundwater is taken as a model pollutant. Thus, the objective is to study TiO₂/chitosan beads for the degradation of 2,4-dicholorophenoxyacetic acid. TiO₂/chitosan beads were prepared by the phase inversion method and studied for their morphological and physiological features. The beads were observed to be spherical in shape and X-ray diffraction analysis shows the incorporation of chitosan and TiO₂. The photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-dicholorophenoxyacetic acid showed 92 % degradation for TiO₂/chitosan beads in UV light. The results were also compared with bare TiO₂, and extended to the continuous photocatalytic mode of degradation. The kinetics and stability of the TiO₂/chitosan beads were monitored for their feasibility.