Journal of Chemical Health Risks Journal of Chemical Health Risks (2017) 7(1), 19–32 ∗ Corresponding author: mansouri2010@yahoo.com; m.mansouri@ilam.ac.ir (M. Mansouri). ORIGINAL ARTICLE Study of Methyl tert-butyl Ether (MTBE) Photocatalytic Degradation with UV/TiO 2 -ZnO- CuO Nanoparticles Mohsen Mansouri *1 , Mohsen Nademi 2 , Mohammad Ebrahim Olya 3 , Hossein Lotfi 2, 3 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 3 Department of Environmental Research, Institute for Color Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran (Received: 14 July 2016 Accepted: 17 September 2016) KEYWORDS Photocatalytic degradation; MTBE; TiO2 – ZnO - CuO nanoparticles; Response surface mod- eling ABSTRACT: In this study, the TiO 2 -ZnO-CuO nanoparticles were primed by sol-gel method characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), for degrada- tion of MTBE solution in water. The effectiveness of the treatment method applied for the degra- dation of MTBE based on an advanced photocatalytic oxidation process was investigated. The three various key parameters were optimized using response surface modeling namely: pH, TiO 2 - ZnO-CuO concentration and the initial MTBE concentrations. The optimized values were obtained at the PH (7), TiO 2 -ZnO-CuO concentration (1.49 g/L), and the initial MTBE concentration (31.46 mg/L). Finally, kinetics reaction of degradtion MTBE was carried in the optimum conditions. INTRODUCTION Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) has been classified by the united states environmental protection agency (USEPA) as a conceivable carcinogenic agent. Based on this agancy standards, the allowablerestriction of MTBE in drinking water is 20-40 ppb [1-3]. This limitation prevented its use as a gasoline additive since May 2006 [4]. The paramount characteristics of this oxygenated material are high polarity and low Henry constant coefficient of 0.022 [5]. In addition, without being absorbed in the soil, this substance can easily penetrate to the ground, and cause groundwater contamination. Besides, MTBE could be easily evaporated to the air and then return back into the aquatic environment via precipitation. MTBE is identified as a very resistant substance for the natural environmental degradation becauseof existence of ether bond and long sub branches (more than one carbon) in its structure [6]. MTBE is a semi volatile organic compound, has been extensively used as a gasoline additive for improved oxidation. In the last decade, its distribution in the aquatic environment and its occurrence in drinking water resources has become a major issue in the