PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HIGHLY PHOTOACTIVE COATINGS ON GLASS SUPPORTS FOR DEGRADATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL SUBSTANCE PARACETAMOL IN WATER

摘要

Pharmaceuticals in aquatic environment are considered as emerging environmental contaminants due to their constant presence, evironmental resistance and toxic effect they could have on aquatic organisms. Studies for Slovenia have shown the presence of pharmaceutical substances in waters to be comparable with published results of pharmaceutical water pollution in Europe. As conventional methods do not reach efficient pharmaceutical removal from water sources, more powerful and effective methods like heterogeneous photocatalysis using TiO2/UV have been implemented. Titanium dioxide coatings in silicate binder were prepared by the sol-gel process and deposited on a glass support with dip-coating technique. The films showed good quality and possibility of multiple use. The characterization of the films was performed with scanning electron microscope (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and hardness test (Elcometer 501 Pencil Hardness Tester). Effectiveness and quality of prepared TiO2 coatings for photodegradation of pharmaceutical compound paracetamol (PCT) were assessed during photocatalytic treatment and compared to photolysis, a process without presence of a catalyst. Photolysis caused substantial changes in paracetamol concentration between 120 and 180 minutes of irradiation where 92% of degradation was achieved, but with no changes in mineralization. Photocatalytic treatment was much faster and effective where 95% of paracetamol degraded within 90 minutes of UV irradiation and after prolonged irradiation time from 120 to 240 minutes also mineralization of paracetamol solution increased from 59% to 83%. Accordingly, toxicity decreased, but it was still not lower than in the starting PCT solution as it was shown by acute toxicity test on Daphnia magna aquatic organisms. The master thesis represents a step forward in studying photocatalytic removal of paracetamol from water, because to my knowledge all the published investigations on this pharmaceutical up to now include photocatalyst mostly in powder and not in immobilized form, which is more advantageous from application point of view.