Photocatalytic, Sonolytic and Sonophotocatalytic Degradation of 4-Chloro-2-Nitro Phenol

The photocatalytic, sonolytic and sonophotocatalytic degradation of 4-chloro-2-nitrophenol (4C2NP) using heterogeneous (TiO2) was investigated in this study. Experiments were performed in slurry mode with artificial UV 125 watt medium pressure mercury lamp coupled with ultrasound (100 W, 33+3 KHz) for sonication of the slurry. The degradation of compound was studied in terms of first order kinetics. The catalyst concentration was optimized at 1.5 gL-1, pH at 7 and oxidant concentration at 1.5 gL-1. The results obtained were quite appreciable as 80% degradation was obtained for photocatalytic treatment in 120 minutes whereas, ultrasound imparting synergistic effect as degradation achieved 96% increase in 90 minutes during sonophotocatalysis. The degradation follows the trend sonophotocatalysis > photocatalysis > sonocatalytic > sonolysis. The results of sonophotocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical compound showed that it could be used as efficient and environmentally friendly technique for the complete degradation of recalcitrant organic pollutants which will increase the chances for the reuse of wastewater.