Abstract
The degradation of nitro aromatics like trinitrotoluene (TNT) released in the waste water from explosive process plants is the serious problem due to toxic and explosive nature of TNT. The poor response of TNT to biodegradation enhanced the gravity of the problem. We have demonstrated that high specific surface area TiO2–SiO2 nano-composite aerogel is promising photo catalyst in successful treating of TNT contaminated aqueous solution. The TiO2–SiO2 composite aerogel with nominal content of 20 and 50% TiO2, used as catalyst, were prepared by co-precursor sol–gel method using titanium isopropaxide and tetramethylorthosilicate as source of titania and silica, respectively. The XRD studies confirmed formation of anatase phase of crystalline TiO2 with nano sized crystallites. The TiO2–SiO2 aerogel showed specific surface area of 1,107 and 485 m2/g for the aerogels containing 20 and 50% TiO2, respectively. The 100 ppm TNT solution was treated, in 700 ml capacity reaction vessel, using H2O2 oxidizer and TiO2–SiO2 aerogel catalyst in presence of UV light (8 W UV lamp). Using TiO2–SiO2 (50/50) aerogel with surface area of 485 m2/g, we succeeded to reduce the TOC to 1 ppm within 3.5 h where as using TiO2/SiO2 (20/80) aerogel with surface area of 1,107 m2/g, the TOC was reduced to about only 7 ppm in the same time. It revealed that the combination of high TiO2 content and high specific surface area is an important factor to achieve effective and faster degradation of TNT for complete mineralization.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bolt HM, Degen GH, Dorn SB, Plöttner S, Harth V (2006) Rev Environ Health 21:217–228
Hawari J, Beaudet S, Halasz A, Thiboutot S, Ampleman G (2000) Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 54:605–618
Britto R, Patel M, Spangberg M, Arnseth R, Bogle F (2010) US Patent No. US2010/0069702 A1
Wujcik WJ, Lowe WL, Marks PJ, Sisk WE (1992) Environ Prog 11:178–189
Maloney S, Adrian NR, Hickey RF, Heine RL (2002) J Hazard Mater 92:77–88
Liou MJ, Lub MC, Chen JN (2003) Water Res 37:3172–3179
Rodgers JD, Bunce NJ (2001) Water Res 35:2101–2111
Liou MJ, Lu MC, Chen JN (2004) Chemosphere 57:1107–1114
Fujishima A, Rao TN, Tryk DA (2000) J Photochem Photobiol C 1:1–21
Hakki A, Dillert R, Bahnemann D (2009) Catal Today 144:154–159
Ohtani B, Ogawa Y, Nishimoto S (1997) J Phys Chem B 101:3746–3752
Kamble S, Sawant S, Pangarkar V, Schouten J (2003) J Chem Technol Biotechnol 78:865–872
Müller C, Schneider M, Mallat T, Baiker A (2000) Appl Catal A 201:253–261
Schmelling DC, Gray KA (1995) Water Res 29:2651–2662
Dillert R, Brandt M, Fornefett I, Siebers U, Bahnemann D (1995) Chemosphere 30:2333–2341
Castro A, Nunes MR, Carvalho AP, Costa FM, Florencio MH (2008) Solid State Sci 10:602–606
Hanprasopwattana A, Rieker T, Sault A, Datye A (1997) Catal Lett 45:165–175
Yuranova T, Mosteo R, Bandara J, Laub D, Kiwi J (2006) J Molec Catal A 244:160–167
Yoshida H, Murata C, Hattori T (2000) J Catal 194:364–372
Ingale S, Wagh P, Tripathi A, Kamble V, Ratanesh Kumar, Gupta S C, J Porous Mater. doi:10.1007/s10934-010-9410-4
Horvath G, Kawazoe K (1983) J Chem Eng Jpn 16:470–475
Zhao Y, Li C, Liu X, Gu F, Jiang H et al (2007) Mater Lett 61:79–83
Kwon YG, Choi SY (2000) J Mater Sci 35:6075–6079
Cullity BD (1978) Elements of X-ray diffraction. Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., Reading, MA
Ingale S, Sastry P, Patra A, Tewari R, Wagh P, Gupta S (2010) J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 54:238–242
Aguado J, Grieken R, López MM, Marugán J (2006) Appl Catal A 312:202–212
Liu G, Sun C, Yang H, Smith S, Wang L, Lu G, Cheng H (2010) Chem Commun 46:755–757
Pekakis PA et al (2006) Water Res 40:1276–1286
Acknowledgments
Authors are thankful to Dr. A. K. Tyagi, Chemistry Division, BARC, for providing XRD facility. Authors are also thankful to Ratanesh Kumar, Rakesh Patel, Sonu Gavit and Sandip Virnak from Applied Physics Division, BARC, for their help in experimental work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ingale, S.V., Wagh, P.B., Tripathi, A.K. et al. Photo catalytic oxidation of TNT using TiO2-SiO2 nano-composite aerogel catalyst prepared using sol–gel process. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 58, 682–688 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-011-2445-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-011-2445-4