Photocatalytic degradation of organophosphoros pesticides using TiO2 supported on fiberglass

This paper studies the feasibility of photocatalytic degradation of organophosphoros pesticides using supported TiO2 as a catalyst, which is prepared by thermal decomposition and calcination of colloidal solution made from hydrolysis of titanium tetraisopropoxide [Ti(iso-OC3H7)(4)] on fiberglass cloth. The results show that 0.65 x 10(-4) mol/dm(3) of dichlorvos, monocrotophos, phorate, and parathion can be completely photocatalytically degraded into PO43- after 200 min illumination with a 375 W medium pressure mercury lamp; the TiO2 supported on the fiberglass is not easily removed and after 120 h illumination there is no significant loss of photocatalytic activity of TiO2. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.