Abstract

Currently, pressed-wood industries reuse the chemical solution in the wood conservation step by using a chlorine solution. However, this procedure is potentially harmful to workers due to the enormous amount of chlorine use. This research will offer more environmental and human health-friendly solutions to reuse the chemical solution in the process. In this research, the synthesis and characterization of the TTIP-Al films and the Fe³⁺/TTIP-Al films used in photocatalytic oxidation under visible light was studied. The synthesized films were used to study the COD and color removal of the chemical solution used in the pressed-wood process. To prepare the films, aluminum sheets were cleaned and anodized to increase the films' pore size and roughness for improving the catalyst stabilization on the aluminum substrates. Titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) was used to prepare the TiO<inf>2</inf>-Fe³⁺ solution in the sol-gel and dip-coating method. A total of 6 different catalyst dosages of films were synthesized. The morphology of aluminum sheets and the synthesized films were analyzed using SEM. Results revealed that anodization enhanced the pore size and roughness of the film surfaces. The analysis of XRD indicated that the crystal of Anatase TTIP at 25.5° 2 Theta was observed, in which the higher dosage of TTIP resulted in higher peak intensity. Results from the UV-VIS analysis suggested that absorbed wavelengths for Fe³⁺/TTIP-Al films shifted to visible light (410 nm) compared to those of TTIP-Al films (380 nm). FT-IR Spectra analysis of the Fe³⁺/TTIP-Al films showed the group of hydroxyl radicals on the Fe³⁺/TiO<inf>2</inf> surface. This functional group could affect the efficiency of photocatalytic oxidation. Color and COD removal of the chemical solution in rubberwood pressed using these films in the annular photocatalytic reactor will be studied in the next phase of this work.