The effect of loading palladium on zinc oxide on the photocatalytic degradation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in water

A series of heterogeneous catalysts was prepared by doping zinc oxide with different palladium loadings in the range of 0.5%-1.5%. The prepared catalysts were characterized by SEM, TEM and XRD. These catalysts were applied to study the degradation of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE). An amount of 100 mg of each of these catalysts was added to an aqueous solution of 100 ppm of MTBE. The resulting mixtures were irradiated with UV light for a period of 5 h. A 99.7% removal of MTBE was achieved in the case of the zinc oxide photocatalyst particles doped with 1% Pd. The photoreaction was found to be a first-order one. Approximately complete removal of MTBE was achieved within 5 h by using ZnO particles doped with 1% Pd. The efficient degradation of MTBE is due to the higher concentration of the hydroxyl radicals and to the presence of Pd that controls the recombination of photogenerated electron hole pair.