Photodegradation of bisphenol-A in a batch TiO2 suspension reactor

In this work, the photocatalytic behaviors of bisphenol-A (BPA), which has been listed as one of endocrine disrupting chemicals, were carried out in a batch TiO2 suspension reactor. The photodegradation efficiency has been investigated under the controlled process parameters including initial BPA concentration (i.e., 1–50 mg L−1), TiO2 dosage (i.e., 5–600 mg/200 cm3), initial pH (i.e., 3–11), and temperature (i.e., 10–70 °C). It was found that the optimal conditions in the photoreaction process could be coped with at initial BPA concentration = 20 mg L−1, TiO2 dosage = 0.5 g L−1 (100 mg/200 cm3), initial pH = 7.0, and temperature = 25 °C. According to the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model, the results showed that the photodegradation kinetics for the destruction of BPA in water also followed the first-order model well. The apparent first-order reaction constants (kobs), thus obtained from the fittings of the model, were in line with the destruction-removal efficiencies of BPA in all the photocatalytic experiments. Based on the intermediate products identified in the study, the possible mechanisms for the photodegradation of BPA in water were also proposed in the present study.