Enhanced degradation rates of paracetamol in aqueous solution using silver doped durio zibethinus husk catalyst

Abstract

In the recent years, traces of paracetamol in water body had increases due to the increasing usage and production of it. Since the discharge of wastewater containing paracetamol into water body can cause harm to environment and human health, it is crucial to find a suitable treatment method to overcome this problem. Advanced Oxidation Process (AOPs) with the assist of heterogeneous catalyst received growing interest as one of prospective treatment method. Some of noble catalysts such as platinum (Pt), gold (Au) and Silver (Ag) could serve as alternative to popular semiconductor catalyst. This study report a series of Ag (5, 10, 15 wt.%) loaded to Durio Zibethinus Husk (Ag/DZH) with detailed physicochemical properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Then, the respective catalysts were tested for photodegradation of paracetamol (PCT) in aqueous solution. It was showed that the catalysts have a potential to degrade 5 mg/L of paracetamol solution (pH 9) with the highest degradation rate of 0.01197 mg/L.min using 0.03 g/L of 10 wt.% Ag/DZH catalyst. This result could serve as alternative for DZH utilization and reduce environmental pollution.