New fly ash TiO2 composite for the sustainable treatment of wastewater with complex pollutants load

The goal of this paper was to develop a new composite obtained in mild hydrothermal conditions starting from fly ash (a waste raising significant environmental problems), and TiO2. The composite was characterized through XRD, SEM/EDX, AFM, and BET surface measurements. The composite was further used for the advanced treatment of wastewaters with multiple-pollutants load. The photocatalytic efficiency of the powder composite was tested on synthetic solutions containing a heavy metal cation (copper), a dye (methyl orange), and a surfactant (sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate), under UV and simulated solar radiation. Comparative experiments were done in systems with and without H2O2 showing a significant increase in efficiency for methyl orange removal from mono-, bi-, and tri-pollutants solutions. The process parameters were optimized and the adsorption mechanisms are discussed, outlining that adsorption is the limiting step. Experiments also outlined that homogeneous photocatalysis (using H2O2) is less efficient then the heterogeneous process using the novel composite, both under UV and simulated solar radiation.