Photocatalytic removal of Cu (II) in an aquatic solution using TiO2-Chitosan Nanocomposites

Abstract

Photocatalytic removal of Cu(II) in aquatic solutions using TiO₂-chitosan nanocomposite  had been studied. The photocatalytic process was carried out using a batch system in a closed reactor equipped with a UV lamp. The results show that the percentage of photocatalytic removal of Cu(II) by TiO₂ – chitosan nanocomposite was higher than that TiO₂ bulk catalyzing. Under solution containing 20 mg/L of Cu(II), pH 7, three hours of contact time, and employing 20 mg TiO₂-chitosan nanocomposite, the Cu(II) removal was successfully done up to 94.55%. The maximum adsorption capacity and the highest kinetic constants were obtained under nanocomposite with the highest amount of chitosan (TiO₂-chit 0.13) and nanocomposite containing the highest amount of TiO₂ (TiO₂-chit 1.3), respectively. The method offers high reusability up to three times with percentage more than 50% of Cu(II) removal.

Keyword: Photocatalytic, Cu(II) removal, TiO₂-chitosan nanocomposite