Abstract

This work concerns the kinetic study of heterogeneous photocatalytic processes on copper adsorbed on aluminium-pillared montmorillonite. Photomineralization of 2-nitrophenol in aqueous medium was investigated as a function of the following experimental parameters: initial concentration of pollutant, light intensity, initial concentration of hydroperoxide, catalyst concentration, pH and temperature. The kinetic expression obtained can be described by the formula:The apparent overall activation energy obtained for 2-nitrophenol was 28 kJ mol⁻¹. By fitting the above equation with the experimental data and values for β (1.94), K_H2O2 (32.29 l mol⁻¹) and K_NP (47.25 × 10² l mol⁻¹), the kinetic equation can predict the concentration of 2-nitrophenol during the entire degradation process at pH 5 and a catalyst concentration of 0.5 g 1⁻¹.