Photocatalytic Degradation Of Aldrin Under The Influence Via Ozonation In The Presence Of Ag2o/Smfeo3 Under Visible Light

The photocatalytic degradation of aldrin, a hugely toxic and commonly used pesticide was studied using Ag doped SmFeO3 as a heterogenous catalyst under ozonation reaction. Various photocatalytic nano particles were prepared with varied dopant percentage (1%, 2.5% and 5%) which were characterised using various analytical and morphological techniques. A magnificent degradation of aldrin up to 99.9% was achieved using 50 mg/L of 5% Ag2O/SmFeO3. It was observed that the degradation was highly efficient at a basic pH of 11 leading to mineralisation of any intermediates produced in the process within 2 h. The extent of degradation was monitored by GC-MS and TLC. Overall mineralisation was tracked using TOC value. The catalyst was easily separated from the reaction mixture using simple ultra filtration method. The separated catalyst was again washed and dried to be used for the next 7 cycles. This method has a promising scope with the development of such perovskite heterogenous photo catalyst for almost complete degradation of the hazardous chemicals released into water bodies such as aldrin.