Performance of TiO2/UV-LED-Based Processes for Degradation of Pharmaceuticals: Effect of Matrix Composition and Process Variables
dc.contributor.author
dc.date.accessioned
2022-10-06T08:02:15Z
dc.date.available
2022-10-06T08:02:15Z
dc.date.issued
2022-01-16
dc.identifier.uri
dc.description.abstract
Ultra-violet light-emitting diode (UV-LED)-based processes for water treatment have shown the potential to surpass the hurdles that prevent the adoption of photocatalysis at a large scale due to UV-LEDs’ unique features and design flexibility. In this work, the degradation of five EU Watch List 2020/1161 pharmaceutical compounds was comprehensively investigated. Initially, the UV-A and UV-C photolytic and photocatalytic degradation of individual compounds and their mixtures were explored. A design of experiments (DoE) approach was used to quantify the effects of numerous variables on the compounds’ degradation rate constant, total organic carbon abatement, and toxicity. The reaction mechanisms of UV-A photocatalysis were investigated by adding different radical scavengers to the mix. The influence of the initial pH was tested and a second DoE helped evaluate the impact of matrix constituents on degradation rates during UV-A photocatalysis. The results showed that each compound had widely different responses to each treatment/scenario, meaning that the optimized design will depend on matrix composition, target pollutant reactivity, and required effluent standards. Each situation should be analyzed individually with care. The levels of the electrical energy per order are still unfeasible for practical applications, but LEDs of lower wavelengths (UV-C) are now approaching UV-A performance levels
dc.description.sponsorship
This research was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 812880 (NOWELTIES), Joint PhD
Laboratory for New Materials and Inventive Water Treatment Technologies, Harnessing resources
effectively through innovation. The authors thank Generalitat de Catalunya through the Consolidated Research Group 2017-SGR-1318. ICRA researchers give thanks for funding from the CERCA
program/Generalitat de Catalunya
dc.format.mimetype
application/pdf
dc.language.iso
eng
dc.publisher
MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
dc.relation.isformatof
Reproducció digital del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12020295
dc.relation.ispartof
Nanomaterials, 2022, vol. 12, núm. 2, p. 295
dc.relation.ispartofseries
Articles publicats (ICRA)
dc.rights
Attribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.uri
dc.subject
dc.title
Performance of TiO2/UV-LED-Based Processes for Degradation of Pharmaceuticals: Effect of Matrix Composition and Process Variables
dc.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.rights.accessRights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.type.version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.identifier.doi
dc.identifier.idgrec
035149
dc.type.peerreviewed
peer-reviewed
dc.identifier.eissn
2079-4991