Photocatalytic Degradation of Salicylic Acid and Reduction of Cr(VI) using TiO2

Water pollution caused by organic and inorganic contaminants represents an important ecological and health hazard.In this study the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) and degradation of salicylic acid (SA) in aqueous suspensions using commercial TiO2 was investigated.The effect of operating parameters such as photocatalyst loading, initial pollutant concentration and pH were optimized in aqueous solution containing salicylic acid alone and hexavalent chromium alone.The performance of the photocatalyst reactor was evaluated on the basis of salicylic acid removal and metal ion reduction.The rate of salicylic degradation for the ternary salicylic acid /Cr(VI)/TiO2 system were generally lower than that for the respective binary salicylic acid/TiO2 systems.This could be attributed to partial catalyst deactivation to some extent..