Photocatalytic degradation of methylparaben by TiO2: Multivariable experimental design and mechanism

Methylparaben is widely used as a bactericide and as an antimicrobial agent in the formulation of personal care products (PCPs) such as tooth pastes, deodorants, beauty creams, solar filters, and bath gels. Owing to a certain estrogenic activity, a possible relationship with breast cancer has been p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Environmental, 2009-04, Vol.88 (1-2), p.32-41
Main Authors: Lin, Yixin, Ferronato, Corinne, Deng, Nansheng, Wu, Feng, Chovelon, Jean-Marc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Catalysis
Chemical Sciences
Chemistry
Environment and Society
Environmental Sciences
Exact sciences and technology
General and physical chemistry
Mechanism
Methylparaben
Multivariate experimental design
Photocatalysis
Photochemistry
Physical chemistry of induced reactions (with radiations, particles and ultrasonics)
Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry
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Summary:Methylparaben is widely used as a bactericide and as an antimicrobial agent in the formulation of personal care products (PCPs) such as tooth pastes, deodorants, beauty creams, solar filters, and bath gels. Owing to a certain estrogenic activity, a possible relationship with breast cancer has been proved by many researchers. Photocatalytic degradation of methylparaben was carried out in an aqueous suspension of TiO2 irradiated by ultraviolet light. A multivariable center composite design based on response surface methodology was applied to estimate the individual and interaction factors including pH, TiO2 loading, oxygen concentration and light flux. An acceptable semi-empirical expression (R2=0.9896) was obtained via data analysis to predict the response of 50% methylparaben removal time, and optimal experimental conditions were also achieved thanks to the experimental design (pH 9, TiO2 loading 2.5gL−1, dissolved oxygen concentration 18mgL−1 and light flux 5.8×1015photonss−1cm−2). Under these conditions, after 6h of irradiation, 80% of methylparaben mineralization evaluated through total organic carbon measurement was obtained and 10 photocatalytic intermediates were identified by GC–MS. In addition, a tentative reaction pathway was proposed.
ISSN:0926-3373
1873-3883
DOI:10.1016/j.apcatb.2008.09.026