TiO2 nanomaterial used as photocatalyst for degradation of benzalkonium chlorides (C14-BAC and C16-BAC) from wastewater

Benzalkonium chlorides are among the active ingredients of the products with biocidal properties used for
disinfection of hands and surfaces. After use, a large part of benzalkonium chlorides end up in the wastewater from the treatment plants where they can cause imbalances of the biological treatment step by destroying the bacteria in the activated sludge. Having bactericidal properties, these pollutants are unlikely to be removed by conventional wastewater treatment techniques. In this paper we present an unconventional method for wastewater treatment using TiO2 nanomaterial with a particle size of 10 nm having the photocatalytic activity for degrading two components of benzalkonium chloride, namely tetradecyldimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (C14-BAC) and hexadecyldimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride (C16-BAC) from wastewater. The concentration of the two compounds was analyzed using a high-performance liquid chromatograph equipped with a diode array detector (HPLCDAD). The wastewater treatment yield was 100 %, and the half-life was for C14-BAC of 7.56 h and for C16-BAC of 10.67 h.