Abstract
Boron nitride (BN) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) of different loadings were composited with commercial P25 TiO2 (Ti) through the hydrothermal method. The as-prepared nanocomposites were characterized using various techniques: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopies, and transmission and scanning electron microscopies. It was observed that 10% and 0.1% of BN and rGO, respectively, loaded on TiO2 (10BNr0.1GOTi) resulted in the best nanocomposite in terms of phenol degradation under simulated sunlight. A 93.4% degradation of phenol was obtained within 30 min in the presence of H2O2. Finally, to ensure the safe use of BNrGOTi nanoparticles in the aquatic environment, acute zebrafish toxicity (acutoxicity) assays were studied. The 96-h acute toxicity assays using the zebrafish embryo model revealed that the LC50 for the BNrGOTi nanoparticle was 677.8 mg L−1 and the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) was 150 mg L−1. Therefore, based on the LC50 value and according to the Fish and Wildlife Service Acute Toxicity Rating Scale, BNrGOTi is categorized as a “practically not toxic” photocatalyst for water treatment.
Highlights
Photocatalysis is gaining more attention in water pollution management in which refractory pollutants are converted into H2O and CO2 (Satpal and Athawale 2018)
We found that 0.1% of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with TiO2 yielded 63% of phenol degradation within 30 min in the presence of an ecooxidant, H2O2 (Al-Kandari et al 2017a, 2017b)
The UV diffuse reflectance was performed for Boron nitride (BN), TiO2, and BNrGOTi to identify their bandgap energy corresponding to the wavelengths at the absorption edge (Fig. 2)
Summary
Photocatalysis is gaining more attention in water pollution management in which refractory pollutants are converted into H2O and CO2 (Satpal and Athawale 2018). Graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) are two-dimensional materials arranged on a honeycomb structure. Earlier, that a photocatalyst from TiO2 and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) (Al-Kandari et al 2015a, 2015b, Abdullah et al 2016, Al-Kandari, Abdullah et al 2016, Al-Kandari, Abdullah et al 2016, AlKandari et al 2017a, 2017b) degrades a variety of organic compounds efficiently under simulated sunlight. In this respect, we found that 0.1% of rGO with TiO2 yielded 63% of phenol degradation within 30 min in the presence of an ecooxidant, H2O2 (Al-Kandari et al 2017a, 2017b). We found that 0.1% of rGO with TiO2 yielded 63% of phenol degradation within 30 min in the presence of an ecooxidant, H2O2 (Al-Kandari et al 2017a, 2017b). Wang et al (2017) mentioned and reviewed in their article different preparation methods of BNrGO and their applications in nanoelectronic devices; they did not report any study for water treatment
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