Photocatalytic Oxidation of Free Cyanide Using UV LED

This study was initiated to remove free cyanide from wastewater using the process of photocatalytic oxidation. UV lamp has been extensively used as a light source in conventional photocatalytic oxidation, but numerous drawbacks of UV lamp have been raised so far. Thus, this study focused on evaluating the applicability of UV LED as an alternative light source to overcome the drawbacks of UV lamp. Furthermore, the effects of diverse operational parameters on the performance of process were investigated. The results demonstrated the applicability of UV LED as a substitute of UV lamp. Also, the results show that the performance of process was improved by the increase in the number of UV LEDs used. To acquire economic feasibility as well as high efficacy, however, it is required to determine the optimum number of UV LED prior to practical implementation of the process. Among the three types of photocatalysts (anatase, rutile, and Degussa P25) tested, the Degussa P25 showed the greatest performance, and it was proven that the process was not improved as much as the Degussa P25 through simple mixing of anatase and rutile without any pretreatment. In addition, the removal efficiency of free cyanide appeared to be increased with the decrease in the particle size of TiO2 photocatalyst. Besides, the process was enhanced with injection of oxygen which is considered as a major electron acceptor in the photocatalytic oxidation.