Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), as a common oxygenate additive in gasoline, not only can enhance the octane number but also reduce exhaust emissions. Unfortunately, MTBE is a highly water soluble reagent and resistant to biodegradation. One of the most important methods for treatment of the MTBE contaminated is photodegradation over TiO2. In this research work, the immobilized TiO2 nanoparticles in poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA nanocomposite films, which prepared by ionic liquid-based microemulsion method, have been evaluated to conduct MTBE photodegradation under visible light irradiation. The objective of this study was to find out the best TiO2 content in nanocomposite and pH value for relatively complete degradation of MTBE in aqueous solution. The obtained results demonstrated that the 0.01 wt% of TiO2 in PMMA thin film and pH value of 7 show the best performance in MTBE photodegradation. Another highlighting of this work is looking to forward the behavior of nanocomposite surface after photodegradation of MTBE pollutant. For this purpose and to confirm the stability of the nanocomposite films for long-term operations, the XPS and FESEM-EDX characterization methods were used.
