STUDY ON PHOTOCATALYTIC OXIDATION DEGRADATION OF PHENOL IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

A new TiO 2-Ag compound catalyst that is made by sol-gel method has been introduced. When treating water sample containing phenol by the catalyst, the conditions of the photocatalytic oxidation degradation, influential factors and degradation rate have been studied. Experimental results show that the catalyst has a fairly good activity of catalytic oxidation to phenol in aqueous solution under sunlight. Under the conditions of having air flow through, pH=4.0, concentration of phenol is 5-mg/L and treating time is 3 hours, the removal rate of phenol can reach about 98%. For the catalyst, its performance is stable, easy to settle down and separate and it is reusable by high temperature activation. So it is able to reduce costs of water treatment effectively.