Decomposition of organic resin by radio-sensitive photocatalyst

A TiO2 based radio-sensitive photocatalyst has been prepared to study the feasibility of organic resin degradation induced by ionization radiation. The synthesis of TiO2/BaF2/ceramic composites was performed using TiCl4 hydrolysis, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelating agent and calcinations at 450 °C. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP–AES) were used to characterize the surface characteristics of the prepared composites. The photocatalytic activities of these prepared composites such as TiO2/ceramic, BaF2/ceramic and TiO2/BaF2/creamic were characterized by the decomposition of ethylene blue (MB) under UV and 60Co irradiation, respectively. The result showed that TiO2 and BaF2 nanoparticles were successfully co-embedded on the ceramic substrate, which significant improved MB decomposition rate at γ radiation. Purolite resin was also fully decomposed by the prepared composites under 1 × 106 Bq 60Co irradiation at different pH conditions. Radio-degradation of resin was discussed with SEM inspection and variations in weight of resin residue and in total organic concentration (TOC) of solution.