PHOTOCATALYTIC OXIDATION OF PARACETAMOL IN WATER

摘要

The TiO2-assisted photodegradation of widely prescribed pharmaceutical compound, paracetamol, was investigated under different operating conditions. The degradation of paracetamol followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics, and more than 90% paracetamol was degraded within 180 min for an initial concentration of 4 mM. The effects of initial concentration of paracetamol, TiO_2 loading, and addition of an electron acceptor were investigated. The results show that the degradation rates increased with the decrease of initial concentration, and increased with the addition of oxygen. However, for the effect of TiO_2 loading, the degradation rates were enhanced by increasing catalyst concentration and reached a plateau at TiO_2 concentration around 0.8 g L~(~1).