The impact of photocatalytic on degradation of poly aromatic hydrocarbons through permeable concrete

The impact of photocatalytic on degradation of poly aromatic hydrocarbons through permeable concrete

Permeable concrete can be a sustainable solution for storm water management systems in urban environments. However, quite often these waters contain harmful contaminants such as poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are known as carcinogens and mutagens. Recently, photocatalysts have been used in various mediums for the degradation of organic pollutants. Under UV light, photocatalysts are able to breakdown organic pollutants into simple substrates through the generation of an electron hole pair and the formation of hydroxyl radicals. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most commonly used photocatalyst in construction materials, as it is readily available, chemically stable, not subject to photo decomposition, effective under weak solar irradiation and has shown to have pozzolanic properties. Permeable concrete is an ideal medium for the use of photocatalytic TiO2 due to the large surface area created by the voids. In this paper, an experimental investigation on the effect of adding TiO2 to permeable concrete to reduce PAH in storm water has been discussed. The degradation of Naphthalene, the simplest PAH, was analysed through a photocatalytic reactor cell. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used for the quantitative analysis of simulated fluid loads containing naphthalene. The analysis has shown that photocatalytic permeable concrete is effective in the degradation of naphthalene by more than 90% in 4 hours.