Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of diethyl phthalate using Zn doped rutile TiO₂

A simple, room temperature sol gel synthesis approach has been made to obtain undoped and Zn doped TiO₂ samples using titanium tetraisopropoxide and zinc acetate as precursors. The synthesized samples are predominantly in rutile phase which are rarely reported at the calcination temperature of 450°C. The samples are characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (DRS), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Raman spectroscopy. The as prepared samples have been used for the photocatalytic degradation of diethyl phthalate. Phthalate esters are one of the persistent organic pollutants found in the environment. Diethyl phthalate has been taken as a model pollutant. Zn doped TiO₂ sample shows better photocatalytic activity as compared to undoped TiO₂. The kinetic studies reveal that the photocatalytic degradation reaction follows a pseudo first order equation. The diethyl phthalate is almost completely degraded in about 200 min using 0.2 mol % Zn doped rutile TiO₂. (author)