Photodegradation of Chloroform Molecules Using Fe2O3Photocatalyst

Abstract

In this work a simple and active photocatalysis system was used to degradate chloroform from wastewater by irradiation with monochromatic UV light source with output power of 1200 mW and 365 nm wavelength. Fe2O3 semiconductor was used as a photocatalytic with different weights. The absorption spectra of samples were recorded before and after irradiation and the influence of Fe2O3 weights and UV exposure time on the absorption of chloroform were studied. The results showed that the degradation of chloroform increased by increasing the weight of the semiconductor and increasing the exposure time, where the lower percentage of chloroform degradation was 11.77% when 300 mg of Fe2O3 was added to 1 ml from chloroform dissolved in 100 ml of water and irradiated for 15 min, while the highest percentage of chloroform degradation was 100% (completely removed) when 700 mg of Fe2O3 was added to 1 ml of chloroform dissolved in 100 ml of water and irradiated for 45 min. The study concluded that the chloroform degradation can be done efficiently by using UV light and Fe2O3, of certain weight, as a photocatalytic in a reasonable time.