Investigating the Photocatalytic Degradation of N-Chloropiperidine in Aqueous Solution by Utilizing TiO2 Under Blacklight Illumination

Abstract

In the current study, the possibility to degrade N-chloropiperidine (C5H10NCl) by photocatalysis technique was investigated for the first time. Three commercially available TiO2 materials were applied in the degradation of N-chloropiperidine in aqueous solution under ultraviolet illumination. The efficiency of the three types of TiO2 as well as the effect of catalyst loading, initial N-chloropiperidine concentration, and formation of anions during the degradation were studied. Experimental results show that the N-chloropiperidine degradation by TiO2 follows first order kinetics with rate constant values varied from 0.0377 to 0.0948 min−1. The optimum concentration of the applied photocatalyst was 0.5 g/L, while increasing the loading behind this concentration yields an obvious decrease in the photocatalytic activity. Increasing the initial concentration of N-chloropiperidine aqueous solution from 10 to 30 mg/L, leads to an obvious decrease in the rate constant. More than 90% of N-chloropiperidine (10 mg/L) solution decomposed within 20 min versus 40 min for higher initial concentrations (30 mg/L). Some of the detected anions during the photocatalytic process were NO−2, NO−3 and Cl−. NO−2 ions were detected as an intermediate while NO−3 ions were produced as a result of the degradation process.