Harnessing Natural Sunlight for Solar-Driven Photocatalysis in 2 Sustainable Agricultural Runoff Remediation

Harnessing Natural Sunlight for Solar-Driven Photocatalysis in 2 Sustainable Agricultural Runoff Remediation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Harnessing Natural Sunlight for Solar-Driven Photocatalysis in 2 Sustainable Agricultural Runoff Remediation Reza Eslamipoor This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8815907/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study evaluates the real-world performance of a TiO₂ compound parabolic collector 23 (CPC) photocatalytic reactor operated under natural sunlight for the treatment of agricul- 24 tural runoff. Three objectives are to determine whether photocatalytic performance can be 25 reliably predicted using spectrally relevant UVA dose, quantify the impact of water-ma- 26 trix optical attenuation on degradation efficiency, and lastly to assess whether an adaptive 27 irradiance-gated control strategy can improve operational throughput. Field Analytical 28 Models are conducted by using a 5 L recirculating CPC slurry reactor treating three model 29 agro-pollutants under mid-latitude outdoor conditions. Kinetics followed pseudo-first- 30 order behaviour when analysed against cumulative UVA dose, which reduced inter-day 31 variability in apparent rate constants from more than 30% (time-based analysis) to less 32 than 10%. Natural river water shows a 20–35% reduction in removal efficiency relative to 33 synthetic runoff, which correlated with lower UV transmittance and higher UV254 ab- 34 sorbance. Catalyst reusability tests indicated only an 18% loss of activity after five cycles, 35 with partial recovery after rinsing. Importantly, the proposed adaptive UVA-dose control 36 increased daily treated volume by 25–35% compared with continuous operation. These 37 results demonstrate that solar photocatalysis can be transformed into a predictable, opti- 38 misable treatment process when spectral irradiance, matrix optics, and intelligent opera- 39 tion are considered together. Solar photocatalysis Circular water management Sustainable agricultural op-42 erations TiO₂ compound parabolic reactor Low-carbon supply chain Irradiance-gated 43 process optimisation Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8815907","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":587456172,"identity":"64f8d9ff-36e0-4a0e-8d8c-55aacb8b9c35","order_by":0,"name":"Reza Eslamipoor","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABAElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADGQYGxgYQQw5EHHhAhBYemBZjsJYE4rRAQCJYIz4t5u3tDz8wVNTx8E873PbgQ8W99Plhhx8CbbGT023ArkXmzIFkCYYzh3kkbie2G844U5y78XaaAVBLsrHZAexaJCQSDkgwth3gYbid2CbN25aQu3F2AkjLgcRtuLTIP2z+wfivjkceqiXdcHb6B/xaJJjZJBgbmHkMoFoS5KVzCNjCk8ZmkXDsMI8hxC8JhhukcwoOJBjg8Qv78cc3PtTUycndTn8GDLEEefnZ6Zs/fKiwk8OlBQwSIBQbmDQAqzTAoxwJQLTINxCnehSMglEwCkYOAACXCF8YwkJmoQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Reza","middleName":"","lastName":"Eslamipoor","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-07 13:44:36","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8815907/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8815907/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102297821,"identity":"4987e25d-86dc-4bf2-9a82-c3825f13c097","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-10 10:29:17","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1209146,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"sustainability4009797peerreviewr2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8815907/v1_covered_19f29471-8a6a-46c2-ae08-a8f79b2b0acb.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eHarnessing Natural Sunlight for Solar-Driven Photocatalysis in 2 Sustainable Agricultural Runoff Remediation\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Solar photocatalysis, Circular water management, Sustainable agricultural op-42 erations, TiO₂ compound parabolic reactor, Low-carbon supply chain, Irradiance-gated 43 process optimisation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8815907/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8815907/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study evaluates the real-world performance of a TiO₂ compound parabolic collector 23 (CPC) photocatalytic reactor operated under natural sunlight for the treatment of agricul- 24 tural runoff. Three objectives are to determine whether photocatalytic performance can be 25 reliably predicted using spectrally relevant UVA dose, quantify the impact of water-ma- 26 trix optical attenuation on degradation efficiency, and lastly to assess whether an adaptive 27 irradiance-gated control strategy can improve operational throughput. Field Analytical 28 Models are conducted by using a 5 L recirculating CPC slurry reactor treating three model 29 agro-pollutants under mid-latitude outdoor conditions. Kinetics followed pseudo-first- 30 order behaviour when analysed against cumulative UVA dose, which reduced inter-day 31 variability in apparent rate constants from more than 30% (time-based analysis) to less 32 than 10%. Natural river water shows a 20–35% reduction in removal efficiency relative to 33 synthetic runoff, which correlated with lower UV transmittance and higher UV254 ab- 34 sorbance. Catalyst reusability tests indicated only an 18% loss of activity after five cycles, 35 with partial recovery after rinsing. Importantly, the proposed adaptive UVA-dose control 36 increased daily treated volume by 25–35% compared with continuous operation. 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