UV-assisted TiO2 photocatalytic degradation of virgin LDPE films: Effect of UV-A, UV-C, and TiO2

The effects of phases of TiO₂, and UV-A and UV-C light on photodegradation of low-density polyethylene films (LDPE films) were investigated. TiO₂ photocatalyst was synthesized via sol-gel method and followed by firing at two different temperatures (450 and 900 ^◦C). Various reaction times used for studying the degradation of LDPE films were 0, 3, 5, 7 and 9 days. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Tauc plot, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), and weight loss (WL) and Carbonyl Index (CI) were used to analyze crystal structure of catalyst, band gap energy of catalyst, catalyst morphology, elemental composition of catalyst, change in chemical structure of LDPE film, and LDPE degradation performance, respectively. The results showed that degradation of LDPE films with the use of TiO₂-900 ^◦C along with UV-C light demonstrated the highest degradation efficiency (WL = 17.30% and CI = 4.0754). The results of crystal structure of TiO₂-450 ^◦C and TiO₂-900 ^◦C, the occurrence of intermediates, and degradation mechanism of LDPE film were used together to contemplate and explain degradation process of LDPE film.