Effect of adsorbents coated with titanium dioxide on the photocatalytic degradation of propoxur

Photocatalytic oxidation of pesticides in aqueous media irradiated by UV light is a rapidly growing field of research. Therefore, the treatment technology for degradation of propoxur (an insecticide) using titanium dioxide coated on the supports such as activated carbon, zeolite, brick, quartz and glass beads, was performed in this research. Results show that GAC/TiO2 is the best complexing agent for oxidizing propoxur because of its adsorption properities. The others follow the sequence: plain TiO2 > glass beads > zeolite > brick > quartz. The degradation rate of propoxur with plain TiO2 is higher than that with TiO2/GAC complexing agent. But the mineralization rate of propoxur with plain TiO2 is lower than that with TiO2/GAC complexing agent. However, it can be concluded that using GAC as the support can improve the photocatalytic efficiency.