INVESTIGATION OF PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE ADSORPTION PROPERTY OF PHOTOCATALYST IN THE REMOVAL OF ENDOSULFAN USING PHOTOCATALYSIS PROCESS

Abstract: The adsorption of organic pollutants is a prerequisite for a higher and efficient photodegradation process. Higher adsorption by the photocatalyst facilitates the degradation of the pollutants. Adsorption improves interfacial interactions between organic pollutant molecules and photocatalyst to increase the photosensitivity capability. In this study, the removal of endosulfan by the adsorption process of Ag/TiO2 /Fe 3 O 4 photocatalyst was investigated. In order to determine the effects of endosulfan concentration, pH and catalyst amount parameters on the removal efficiency, the experimental design and optimization of the adsorption process using the Taguchi method and analysis of variance were performed. As a result of the highest S/N ratios obtained on the basis of parameters, 4 mg/L endosulfan concentration, pH 4 and 0.3 g/L catalyst amount were determined as optimum, and 85.02% removal efficiency was achieved. When the parameter effects on the removal efficiency are evaluated, the most effective parameters are the endosulfan concentration, pH and catalyst amount, respectively. The f critical value showed that the endosulfan concentration was statistically effective on the removal. The error caused by uncontrollable factors remained below 50%, showing that the errors were not significant. When the %P values were examined, it was determined that there was a significant difference between the levels of endosulfan concentration and pH factors.