Abstract
Eco-friendly polymer nanocomposite films were synthesized using biodegradable polymers of chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol as polymeric matrices and carbon black nanoparticles as the reinforcement. These films were applied to study their applicability to industrial wastewater purification as a photocatalyst for degradation of Congo red as a target pollutant and to study the effect of the polymeric matrix types of the films on their performance as a semiconductor photocatalyst. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the films. Visible light photocatalytic degradation of Congo red as a pollutant under various operational conditions of pH, dye concentration, contact time, and light intensity was performed. Photocatalytic results revealed that the polymeric substrate type does not play a major role in the photodegradation of the dye, and the best operational conditions were at a pH of 6 and a dye solution concentration of 8 mg/L.
Highlights
Dyes are extensively used in the industrial sector such as the textile industry, rubber, paper, leather, and cosmetics [1]
To prepare the polymer solutions, 2 g of chitosan was dissolved in 100 mL of 2% acetic acid and stirred magnetically until a homogenous solution was obtained, while 2 g of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was dissolved in 100 mL of distilled water and stirred magnetically at 90°C until a homogenous solution was obtained. e samples were labeled as Chit/C and PVA/C for the chitosan nanocomposites and PVA nanocomposite film photocatalysts, respectively. ey were characterized spectroscopically by recording FT-IR spectra using Fouriertransform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy 1000, PerkinElmer ranging 4000–400 cm−1, and the X-ray diffraction using PRO X-ray diffractometer made in Holland
As for the Chit/C film, there are three sharp peaks around 2θ 10.0°, 12.0°, and 20.0° and three broad peaks around 24°, 32°, and 43°. e sharp beaks at 10.0° and 20.0° are assigned to crystal morphology of chitosan [22], whereas the broad and weak peaks at 24° and 43° are assigned to residual of the carbon black, and the other peaks at 12.0° and 32° are assigned to the formation of nanocomposites
Summary
Dyes are extensively used in the industrial sector such as the textile industry, rubber, paper, leather, and cosmetics [1]. The discharge of dyes could lead to water pollution problems because of their toxicity. E primary mechanism of this process involves the decomposition of organic contaminants into carbon dioxide and water by utilizing light energy. Semiconductor photocatalysts absorb the light energy, initiating the oxidation reactions by generating hole (h+) and electron (e−) pairs, which can generate free radicals such as hydroxyl (OH). Ese free radicals work as oxidizers of organic pollutants ([3,4,5] cited in [3]). To generate the h+ and e− pairs, a semiconductor catalyst must be capable of absorbing light energy equal to or greater than its bandgap energy ([3,4,5] cited in [3])
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