doi:10.1007/s11356-019-07276-3engMoles, SamuelValero, PilarEscuadra, SilviaMosteo, RosaGómez, JairoOrmad, María P.Performance comparison of commercial TiO2: separation and reuse for bacterial photo-inactivation and emerging pollutants photo-degradationART-2020-116179This research aims to compare the disinfection and degradation effectiveness in water of a commercial suspension of nano-TiO<inf>2</inf> (TiO<inf>2</inf>Levenger) with the standard TiO<inf>2</inf>Degussa P25. Photo-inactivation and photo-degradation experiments were conducted with UVA-vis light. Concerning the disinfection, the effects of TiO<inf>2</inf> dose (0‚Äì2¬†g/l), water matrix, bacterium type (Gram-positive or Gram-negative), and bacterial regrowth after the photo-treatments were studied for each catalyst. The experimental results show that Enterococcus sp. (Gram-positive) was more resistant to the photo-treatments than Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) for both catalyst; however, postirradiation trends showed similar behavior for both bacteria, favoring regrowth for short-treated cells and decay for longer-treated ones. Caffeine was selected as a model substance of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. In terms of caffeine removal, the effects of TiO<inf>2</inf> dose (0‚Äì2¬†g/l) and water matrix were analyzed. Besides, the comparison between mechanical coagulation-flocculation-decantation and simple decantation of TiO<inf>2</inf> was carried out. The results show that simple decantation allowed the recovery of 97.5% of TiO<inf>2</inf> Degussa P25 and TiO<inf>2</inf> Levenger within 1¬†day of simple decantation, while applying the proposed mechanical coagulation-flocculation decantation 99.7% of recovery of both catalysts was achieved in 2¬†hours. Finally, the subsequent reuse of both catalysts was proved with little loss of efficiency in terms of photo-disinfection during the four cycles. Nevertheless, the standard TiO<inf>2</inf> Degussa P25 photo-degradation efficiency of caffeine decreases considerably as compared to commercial suspension of TiO<inf>2</inf> Levenger concerning the reutilization.2020http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/16510410.1007/s11356-019-07276-3http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165104oai:zaguan.unizar.es:165104info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FSE/T51-17REnvironmental Science and Pollution Research 27 (2020), 9099–9113All rights reservedhttp://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess