Abstract
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 100mg of each of these catalysts was added to an aqueous solution of 100ppm of MTBE. The resulting mixtures were irradiated with UV light for a period of 5h. 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.