CaTiO3 Perovskite in the Photocatalysis of Textile Wastewater

Abstract Perovskite-type CaTiO3 material was synthesized by the polymeric precursor method and characterized. The powder was applied as a promising alternative to TiO2 photocatalyst. Photocatalytic reaction parameters were optimized by surface analysis methodology on the degradation of methylene blue under UV radiation. After optimization, complex textile- and tannery wastewaters were treated and the COD reduction was evaluated. At optimized conditions (pH=11.2 and 1 g L-1 of catalyst concentration), the results obtained for the photodegradation of the real wastewater after 240 min of irradiation were 45% COD reduction for both effluents. The reactions were adjusted to the pseudo first order kinetic and the rate constants were 2.07 x 10-3 (min-1) and 2.23 x 10- 3 (min-1) for COD reduction for textile- and tannery wastewaters, respectively.