Drinking Water Treatment using Titanium Dioxide to Adsorb and Oxidize Contaminants
Titanium dioxide can serve as a sorbent for contaminant adsorption, and when activated by ultraviolet irradiation, it can serve as the source of the electron transfer necessary to form radical chemical species capable of non-specific degradation of organic contaminants.
The key radical species, hydroxyl radical, is a powerful oxidant, meaning that it reacts with constituents in the surrounding matrix very quickly. Thus, the potential for adsorption on the titanium dioxide surface plays a crucial role not only in physical removal, but also in the redox chemistry.
This work investigates the removal efficiency of triclosan using titanium dioxide to treat drinking water.
This project is funded by a grant from Marquette University’s Innovation Fund (PI-Mayer, Co-PI Hristova, Co-PI Foster).
This work is being performed in collaboration with Krassi Hristova (Marquette University, Biological Sciences) and Stonehouse Water Technologies
Research technician Lisa Herring and Taylor Gries, an undergraduate research assistant, are performing the research.
RELATED GROUP PUBLICATIONS:
Mayer, B.K., Daugherty, E., Abbaszadegan, M. 2015.
Evaluation of the relationship between bulk organic precursors and disinfection byproduct formation for advanced oxidation processes. Chemosphere. 121:39-46.
Mayer, B.K., Daugherty, E., Abbaszadegan, M. 2014.
Disinfection byproduct formation resulting from settled, filtered, and finished water treated by titanium dioxide photocatalysis. Chemosphere. 117:72-78.
Gerrity, D., Mayer, B.K., Ryu, H., Crittenden, J., Abbaszadegan, M. 2009. A comparison of pilot-scale photocatalysis and enhanced coagulation for disinfection byproduct mitigation. Water Res. 43:6:1597-1610.