Emad Dehghani Fard, Ahmad Jonidi Jafari, Roshanak Rezae Kalantari, Mitra Gholami, Ali Esrafili,
Volume 5, Issue 2 (10-2012)
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Background and Objectives: Aniline has been used in different processes of chemical
industries, however due to its side effects on the environment, several methods
have been considered for its removal. In this study, we evaluated the
performance of photocatalytic process using ZnO nanoparticles (nZnO) and
ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for removal of Aniline from a synthetic effluent.
Materials and Methods: A 5L photocatalytic reactor made from Plexiglas, which the UV lamp (20w)
installed in the center of that (inside a quartz jacket), was designed and nZnO
(0.2-0.5 g/l) was being added into synthetic effluent with Aniline concentration
of 250 ppm. After retention times of 30, 60, and 90 min, samples were
centrifuged and supernatant was filtered using a 0.2 µ PTFE filter. The
liquid-liquid method and Gas Chromatography instrument was used for extraction
and analysis respectively.
Results: Results
showed that the photocatalytic process of nZnO+UV could effectively remove
Aniline from effluent. Increasing trend in the removal efficiency of Aniline
using nZnO = 0.5 g/l was slower in comparison with other nZnO concentrations
and the ANOVA analysis shows no significant difference between removal
efficiency of Aniline in different concentrations of nZnO. The most removal
efficiency of Aniline (76.3%) was observed in alkaline pH, retention time of 90
min and nZnO of 0.5 g/l.
Conclusion: It could be concluded that the
photocatalytic process of nZnO+UV could be suitable technique for Aniline
removal from effluents.
