Abstract
We have evaluated the efficiency of silk fibroin (SF) coated with ZnO nanoparticles in the photocatalytic disappearance of one acaricide (etoxazole) and three fungicides (difenoconazole, myclobutanil and penconazole) in water exposed to sunlight irradiation. Electrospun SF/ZnO mats were successfully synthesized by electrospinning technique and characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, XPS, XDS, FTIR, and BET. The influence of catalyst loading on the degradation kinetics of the different pesticides was examined in order to gain knowledge of maximum degradation efficiency. A significant increment in degradation rates was observed with the addition of ZnO. SF mats with 25 mg of ZnO were finally selected since no significant differences (p < 0.05) were detected when the loading was enlarged from 25 to 50 mg for the majority of the compounds. In the experimental conditions, the half-lives ranged from 33 min to 93 min for etoxazole and myclobutanil, respectively. The comparison of SF materials coated with similar amount of TiO2 and ZnO showed that the later was slightly more efficient to remove pesticide residues. Hence, the use of electrospun SF/ZnO nanostructures would provide an environmentally friendly approach with photocatalytic activity to be applied in the reclamation of water polluted by pesticides.
Highlights
Agricultural activity depends heavily on the use of pesticides with the consequent risks for humans and the environment
We propose a new methodology for manufacturing electrospun silk fibroin (SF) materials incorporating ZnO into their fibrillary network (SF/ZnO), analyzing their ability to degrade etoxazole and difenoconazole, myclobutanil and penconazole in water, pesticides commonly used in agriculture, by means of sunlight
We have developed a new and simple method to obtain silk fibroin (SF) fibers coated with ZnO nanoparticles using electrospinning technique
Summary
Agricultural activity depends heavily on the use of pesticides with the consequent risks for humans and the environment. The research of photochemical techniques based on the use of sunlight in order to catalyze the degradation of these toxic compounds toward innocuous derivatives is becoming an important field of research nowadays [3,4,5] These technologies are considered an advantageous option for the treatment of pesticide-polluted water because their effectiveness has been verified for different types of pesticides during the last decade [6]. As far as we know, electrospun SF meshes have never been studied or produced as photocatalyst for the elimination of pesticides in polluted water With this aim, we propose a new methodology for manufacturing electrospun SF materials incorporating ZnO into their fibrillary network (SF/ZnO), analyzing their ability to degrade etoxazole (diphenyl oxazoline) and difenoconazole, myclobutanil and penconazole (triazole compounds) in water, pesticides commonly used in agriculture, by means of sunlight. The photocatalytic efficiency of electrospun SF materials prepared with TiO2 (SF/TiO2 ) was evaluated and compared with SF/ZnO for the reclamation of pesticide-polluted water
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