Photocatalytic Degradation of Acephate on ZnFe2O4-TiO2 Photocatalyst under Visible-Light Irradiation

The ZnFe2O4-TiO2 composite photocatalyst is prepared by sol-gel method and used to degrade acephate successfully. It demonstrates that the photocatalytic degradation of acephate follows pseudo-first-order degradation kinetics (ln(C-0/C)=kt). The rate constant k is affected by initial concentration of acephate, pH, catalyst dosage and H2O2 dosage. The lower initial acephate concentration and higher pH value are helpful for increasing the acephate degradation rate. The photocatalyst and H2O2 dosage has the optimal value of 2.0 g L-1 and 8 mmol L-1, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, after 120 min of irradiation, 89.5% acephate can be decomposed.