Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Wastewater Using Magnetic Nanocomposites

Summary

Environmental pollution with dyes is one of the major problems facing the world due to its vast

spreading in food, textile, paints and other chemical industries. Dyes usually have a synthetic origin

and complex aromatic stable structures that are difficult to biodegrade. Photocatalysis with nano-

titania is a promising technology for the quantitative degradation of organic pollutants based on the

advantageous stability, and non-toxicity of titania. However, the photocatalytic activity of titania is

hampered by the electron-hole recombination and the wide energy gap (3.2 eV) that limits the

photocatalytic activity to ultraviolet region (λ<380 nm) and decrease the life time of the reactive

species. Therefore, in the current work, we propose an innovative ZnFe2O4/Bismuth vanadate-

TiO2/LDH nanocomposite as a highly ordered magnetic photocatalyst with well controlled pore

dimensions that is dispersed homogeneously on ZnO-Cr2O3 layered double hydroxide (LDH)

nanoparticles. The innovative photocatalyst is characterized by (1) enhanced photocatalytic

performance, due to incorporation of bismuth vanadate with its narrow band gap energy and

exceptional optical and electrical properties responsible for reducing the electron–hole recombination

and shifting the photocatalytic response to the visible region, (2) maximized surface area due to

dispersion on the active sites of the enormously high surface area LDH nanoparticles, and (3)

imparted magnetic properties due to ZnFe2O4 that facilitates the separation of the photocatalyst

nanoparticles after the mineralization process. Various instrumental techniques will be used to

characterize the physicochemical features of the synthesized mesoporous nanoparticles. These

include: FTIR spectrometry, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), High

1resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Textural analysis

(BET), Thermal analysis (DTA, TGA and DTG) and diffuse reflectance spectrometry (DRS). The

photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of model cationic and anionic persistent pollutant

dyes, including rhodamine 6G and fluorescein, will be thoroughly investigated, optimized and

incorporated into the recommended procedure. The recyclable-nanocomposite photocatalyst is

expected to have a pronounced effect in the degradation of persistent organic pollutants and

improving the quality of industrial wastewaters in EGYPT.

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