Photocatalytic studies using a very low surface area catalyst: TiO2 over CaCO3 from waste shell (Pomacea canaliculata) in paraquat degradation

Abstract

Calcination of shell waste and subsequent processing resulted in CaCO₃ powder that was used as the catalyst support for TiO₂/CaCO₃ catalyst. The catalyst has been characterized by scanning electron microscopy, BET measurements, X-ray diffraction, UV-visible diffused reflectance spectroscopy and Fourior transform infrared spectroscopy to elucidate the catalyst’s properties. The TiO₂ over CaCO₃ catalyst has been used as a photocatalyst in paraquat removal under optimized conditions of calcination temperature, TiO₂ loading method, loading content of Ti component, loading content of TiO₂ in the catalyst and light irradiation. The results show that all the experimental parameters significantly affect paraquat removal efficiency of the catalyst. The calcination temperature and TiO₂ loading method show the most significant effect.