DEGRADATION OF HUMIC ACID BY FLOATING PHOTOCATALYST TiO2/Cu-ARECA FIBER

Abstract

The photocatalyst method is effective in degrading humic acid into O2 and H2 compounds that are more environmentally friendly. The photocatalysis process involves light and semiconductors such as TiO2 to accelerate the reaction rate. Therefore, modification of TiO2 is needed to shift light absorption to visible light by using Cu2+ doping and areca fiber. XRD characterization shows that Merck's TiO2 has shifted at 2θ, indicating that Cu has entered the TiO2 structure, and several peaks have reduced in intensity after being embedded with areca fiber, indicating that TiO2/Cu has successfully attached to areca fiber. FTIR results show that TiO2/Cu has been attached to the areca fiber, which is marked by shifting and weakening the intensity of the Ti-O-Cu wave number absorption. The test results show that TiO2/Cu embedded in areca fiber had higher degradation activity than TiO2/Cu without embedded, with a percent degradation of 54% for 180 minutes of irradiation. These results prove that TiO2/Cu floated to the surface of the solution can optimize irradiation so that it is effective in the degradation process.

Keywords

• areca fiber
• floating photocatalyst
• peat water