Abstract
In this study, the simple upcycling of coal fly ash (FA) waste to produce low-cost integrated photocatalytic adsorbents (IPCAs) for the removal of hazardous organic contaminant was proposed. The IPCAs were fabricated by combining zinc oxide (ZnO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on FA derived zeolite. The ternary ZnO/FA-zeolite/rGO (ZnO/Z/rGO) nanocomposites were prepared using pyrolysis-hydrothermal techniques. These nanocomposites were found to possess negative surface charges and large surface areas. Consequently, they achieved high methylene blue (MB) adsorption efficiency, owing to the increase in the number of active sites and the strong electrostatic interaction between ZnO/Z/rGO and MB molecules. ZnO and rGO improved the photocatalytic MB degradation and mineralization via reactive oxygen species generation (superoxide and hydroxyl radicals as the major reactive species), hindered the charge recombination and enhanced the reusability. These results can be used to guide the development of upcycling and utilization of FA for cost-effective, accessible, and reusable IPCAs with excellent degradation and stability in organic dye wastewater treatment.
Published Version
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