APPLICATION OF TITANIUM DIOXIDE(TiO2) NANOPARTICLE MATERIALS ON DOMESTIC WASTEWATER: REMOVAL OF POLLUTANTS

Abstract

Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the earth's crust and is usually found in minerals such as rutile, ilmenite, and sphene. Adsorption, photocatalysis, and advanced oxidation processes are used in water and wastewater treatment. Among these processes, photocatalysis has emerged as a safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly treatment process for the treatment of wastewater with high pollutant content. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is widely used as a photocatalyst and adsorbent. Titanium dioxide nanoparticle material has been applied in various fields, including environmental water and wastewater treatment. In this study, treatment performance was investigated by using TiO2 nanoparticles for the removal of pollutants in domestic wastewater. System performance was evaluated in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and total nitrogen (TN). Different adsorbent concentrations (50-200 mg/L) and reaction times (15-90 min) were investigated at pH 7.2 to determine optimum conditions. Optimum adsorption concentration and reaction time were found to be 50 mg TiO2/L and 60 minutes, respectively. COD, DOC, and TN removal efficiencies were observed as 80%, 30%, and 35%, respectively. The obtained results showed that the removal efficiency of COD and DOC from domestic wastewater of TiO2 nanoparticles is high.