THE STUDY OF PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF SULFONAMIDES APPLIED TO MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER

Abstract

A photocatalytic process of degradation of the selected sulfonamides (sulfathiazole, sulfamethoxazole and sulfadiazine) added to real wastewater was studied in this work. The process was initiated by UV-a irradiation and TiO2-P25, FeCl3 and mixtures of TiO2-P25 with FeCl3 were used as photocatalysts. The effect of pre-treatment of wastewater and the influence of process parameters on the efficiency of sulfonamides removal were also determined. It was found that the highest efficiency of degradation was achieved in the process carried out in the presence of TiO2-P25/FeCl3 mixture, in full scale effluent wastewater treatment plant..