Removal of Color and Chemical Oxygen Demand from Landfill Leachate by Photocatalytic Process with AC/TiO2

This research paper has presented a simplified sol-gel preparation method for a hybrid activated carbon/titanium dioxide (AC/TiO2) photocatalyst. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis were utilized to examine the surface properties of the AC/TiO2 photocatalyst. The analysis results showed that the TiO2 particles coated on the AC surface were of anatase phase and that the surface area, pore volume and pore size of the hybrid AC/TiO2 photocatalyst were reduced in relation to those of the uncoated AC. The photocatalytic performances of the hybrid photocatalyst were evaluated for color and COD removals through experimentation with landfill leachate under UVA irradiation of two different intensities. The experiments revealed that the coating of TiO2 onto AC enhanced the removal efficiencies and that the increased UVA intensity boosted the photoactivity. The high photoactivity under UVA irradiation makes the proposed hybrid AC/TiO2 photocatalyst an ideal photocatalyst.