| The quality of water resources in a water-scarce country like the Kingdom of Saudi.;Arabia is an issue requiring a great deal of attention. Pollution from the production and.;use of chemicals poses a threat to the Kingdom's water resources. Methyl tertiary butyl.;ether (MTBE) is one such compound encountered in groundwater. MTBE is a fuel.;additive that replaced tetraethyl lead as the main anti-knocking agent and is used to.;enhance octane rating in refined fuels. Treatment of MTBE contaminated water by.;conventional methods (air stripping, adsorption onto activated carbon and.;biodegradation) is challenging due to its unique properties of high water solubility, low.;adsorption onto solids and resistance to biodegradation. Advanced oxidation processes.;(AOPs), however, seem to be a promising treatment option for water contaminated by.;MTBE and other organics. Photocatalysis is one form of AOPs that utilizes ultraviolet.;(UV) or visible light radiation in combination with a semiconductor photocatalyst. In this.;study, titanium dioxide (TiO2), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and TiO2.;supported on MWCNT (TiO2-MWCNT) composites were used in combination with.;ultraviolet (UV) light radiation to photocatalytically degrade MTBE in spiked water.;samples. The removal of MTBE as well as its expected degradation by-products: acetone,;tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) and tertiary butyl formate (TBF) were studied under.;different experimental conditions; TiO2, MWCNT and TiO2-MWCNT dosage (1 mg, 10.;mg and 20 mg) and UV light intensity (0.98 mW/cm2, 1.12 mW/cm2 and 2.17 mW/cm2).;were examined. MTBE removal was found to be mainly due to the photocatalytic effect.;of TiO2 (with removal rates reaching up about 95% after treatment). MWCNTs with UV.;light also demonstrated limited removal capabilities (with removal rates up to 68.21%);;though the mechanism by which this happens is not fully understood. The prepared TiO2-.;MWCNT composites however showed the lowest removal rates. |
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