Photocatalytic Degradation of Butanone Wastewater by Novel Catalyst Development

With the acceleration of industrialization, butanone, as an important industrial raw material, will inevitably produce a large amount of wastewater containing butanone in the production process. This kind of wastewater has the characteristics of high toxicity and difficult degradation, which poses a serious threat to the environment and ecosystem. Therefore, the development of efficient and stable photocatalytic degradation catalyst has become the key to solve the problem of butanone wastewater pollution. Based on the basic principle of photocatalytic degradation, this paper analyzes the current technical difficulties and discusses the development direction of new catalysts.

Photocatalytic Degradation Technology and Its Advantages

Photocatalytic degradation is a technology that uses light energy to drive chemical reactions, and converts light energy into energy required for chemical reactions through a catalyst. In the photocatalytic process, the catalyst is usually made of a semiconductor material, such as titanium dioxide (TiO₂). When light is irradiated on the surface of the catalyst, electrons are excited to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby degrading organic pollutants.

Compared with traditional sewage treatment methods, photocatalytic degradation has the following advantages:

1. High efficiency: able to decompose complex organic matter in a short time;
2. Green: no need to add chemical reagents, reduce secondary pollution;
3. Scalability: Suitable for large-scale industrial wastewater treatment.

Traditional photocatalysts still have problems such as low efficiency and poor stability in practical applications, especially in the treatment of butanone wastewater, the effect is not ideal.

Difficulties in Butanone Wastewater Treatment

Butanone (also known as 2-butanone) is a refractory organic compound with a carbonyl (C = O) functional group in its molecular structure and high chemical stability. Traditional physical and chemical methods (such as adsorption, coagulation) and biological treatment methods have limited removal effect on butanone, and it is difficult to meet the emission standards.

The key to photocatalytic degradation of butanone wastewater is the choice of catalyst. Although the performance of the traditional titanium dioxide catalyst is stable, the rapid recombination of electron-hole pairs and the surface reaction kinetics limit the degradation efficiency. Therefore, the development of efficient and stable new photocatalyst is the core of improving the treatment effect of butanone wastewater.

New photocatalytic catalyst development direction

In view of the shortcomings of traditional catalysts, the researchers put forward a variety of new catalyst design ideas, including the following categories:

1. Doped catalyst

By introducing heterogeneous elements (such as N, F, W, etc.) into the semiconductor material, the doped catalyst can regulate its energy band structure and reduce the recombination probability of electron-hole pairs, thereby improving the catalytic efficiency. For example, nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-TiO) has been shown to significantly enhance light absorption and ROS generation efficiency.

Advantages:

• Improve the light absorption range, reduce the light energy loss.
• Enhance the catalyst surface activity, accelerate the reaction rate.

Challenges:

• The inclusion of dopants may affect catalyst long-term stability.
The effect of
• different doping concentrations on performance needs to be further optimized.

2. Composite catalyst

Composite catalysts combine two or more different materials to form a synergistic effect and improve catalytic performance. For example, graphene is combined with titanium dioxide to reduce the recombination of electron-hole pairs by utilizing the high conductivity of graphene.

Advantages:

• Combined with a variety of material advantages, improve catalyst performance.
• It is possible to adjust the component ratio to optimize the catalytic effect.

Challenges:

• Composite material preparation process is complex, the cost is high.
• Material interface effects may affect stability.

3. Noble metal based catalyst

Noble metals (such as Pt, Au, Ag) are widely used in the field of photocatalysis because of their excellent light absorption and electron transfer properties. The size and morphology of noble metal nanoparticles have a significant impact on the catalytic performance.

Advantages:

• Efficient light absorption and electron transfer capabilities.
• Easy to regulate the catalytic activity.

Challenges:

• The high cost of precious metals limits their large-scale application.
• Nanoparticle stability needs to be further improved.

Future Research and Application Prospects

Although the new photocatalytic catalyst has shown excellent performance in the laboratory, the following problems still need to be solved in order to achieve industrial application:

1. Stability: the catalyst in the long-term use of the light decay and anti-pollution ability to be further improved;
2. Cost: the new catalyst preparation process needs to be simplified to reduce production costs;
3. **scalability**: Development of large-scale wastewater treatment catalytic systems.

Future research should focus on the structural design and performance optimization of the catalyst, while exploring more environmentally friendly and economical preparation methods. Combining artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to establish a catalyst performance prediction model will also provide important support for the development of new catalysts.

Summary

Photocatalytic degradation technology provides a new way to solve the problem of butanone wastewater pollution. Through the development of efficient and stable new catalysts, the degradation efficiency can be improved and the processing cost can be reduced. Research in this field still faces many challenges and requires further technological breakthroughs and innovations. In the future, with the rapid development of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and other fields, photocatalytic degradation technology is expected to play a greater role in industrial wastewater treatment.