Photocatalytic Degradation of Quinalphos and Profenofos Pesticides Using UV Irradiated TiO2 Nanoparticles-A Kinetic Study

Photocatalytic degradation has been established to be a promising method for water treatment. In view of this, TiO2 photocatalyst was prepared by sol gel method and characterized by SEM with EDAX, XRD, BET, UV-vis and FTIR. The photocatalytic degradation of Quinalphos (QPS) and Profenofos (PFS) was carried out using synthesized TiO2 photocatalyst irradiated with 16 W UV light source. The effect of various parameters, i.e., illumination time, photocatalyst concentration, pesticide concentration and pH of the solution on the percentage of degradation of selected pesticides had been examined. The kinetic analysis of photodegradation of QPS and PFS under different initial concentration followed the Langmuir Hinshelwood model. The TiO2 nanoparticles can be reused without noticeable activity loss for at least three cycles and then it can be subjected to regeneration for further usage. TiO2 found to be an outstanding photocatalyst for the degradation of QPS and PFS under UV light irradiation.