Photocatalytic treatment of wastewater from paper mill by TiO2 loaded on activated carbon fibers

Titanium dioxide was loaded on activated carbon fibers (ACF) with different surface areas by using the residue after epoxy resin being calcined as the link between TiO2 and ACF, and their surface properties and photodegradations of wastewater from paper mill have been investigated. TiO2 powder distributed on ACF in the form of small clusters, and its surface element state changed after UV irradiation. After TiO2 was loaded on ACF, the surface area of supported catalysts (TiO2/ACF) decreased, but the pore structure of ACF remained well. The photodegradation results showed that an increase in surface area favored high COD removal for paper mill effluents; The best COD removal was obtained only by using TiO2/ACF2 with moderate surface area and pore structure for organic molecules from the effluents, and its photocatalytic activity was higher than suspended P25 and without any decline when used repeatedly.