Photocatalytic degradation of phenol in aqueous phase with TiOl immobilized on perlite granules

In this research, an attempt was made to step toward this goal, by immobilizing the successful Degussa P-25 photocatalyst using a very simple and inexpensive method. The selected support was perlite granules. Perlite granules have a porosity of more than 95%, which allows them to stay afloat on water surface. This gives the medium a unique characteristic from the processing point of view, which enables it to get wetted with the polluted solution without requiring any pumping and simultaneously be exposed to the radiation source when coated with the photocatalyst. XRD analyses did not reveal any sensible changes in the structure of P-25 as a consequence of the applied immobilization process. HPLC analyses of the photocatalytic treatment experiments of waters synthetically polluted with phenol showed a good performance for the immobilized catalyst. The rate of phenol degradation was positively affected by UV light intensity