Photodegradation of Chlorophenoxyacetic Acids by ZnO/r-Fe2O3 Nanocatalysts: A Comparative Study

Abdul Halim Abdullah,Lee Kian Mun,Zulkarnain Zainal,Mohd Zobir Hussein

doi:10.5539/ijc.v5n4p56

Abdul Halim Abdullah, Lee Kian Mun + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/ijc.v5n4p56

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Abstract

ZnO/r-Fe2O3 nanocomposite was synthesized via simple precipitation. The synthesized nanocatalysts underwent heat treatment at 450 oC for an hour. The characteristics of the nanocomposite were investigated by XRD, TEM, and BET surface area measurement. Zeta potential analysis was used to examine the surface charge properties of the nanocatalysts. The synthesized nanocomposite has an average particle size of 11 nm and a surface area of 20 m2 g-1. The potential of ZnO/r-Fe2O3 as a photocatalyst was evaluated by photodegrading chlorophenoxyacetic acids (PAA, 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T and 4CA). The decomposition of chlorophenoxyacetic acids by ZnO/r-Fe2O3 followed 4CA > 2,4,5-T = 2,4-D > PAA. The result indicates the applicability of ZnO/r-Fe2O3 nanocomposite as a photocatalyst in removing organic pollutants in wastewater.

Highlights

Rapid industrialisation has resulted in, among other things, problems with water pollution
The results indicated that the photodecomposition rates of the chlorophenoxyacetic acids were low at pH 5 due to a substantial loss of ZnO
The highly photoactive ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 catalyst was successfully synthesized via precipitation followed by calcination at 450 °C for an hour

Summary

Introduction

Rapid industrialisation has resulted in, among other things, problems with water pollution. Semiconductor photocatalysis has received increased attention due to its inherent ability to lead to complete mineralisation of organic carbon into carbon dioxide and water (Erquez & Pichat, 2006; Kaneco, Itoh, Katsumata, Suzuki, & Ohta, 2009; Kaniou, Pitarakis, Barlagianni, & Poulios, 2009; Pera-Titus, García-Molina, Baños, Giménez, & Esplugas, 2004; Rao, Sivasankar, & Sadasivam, 2005; Uddin, Hasnat, Samed, & Majumdar, 2007) without a mass transfer. This process can be performed under ambient conditions using atmospheric oxygen as the oxidant (Chatterjee & Dasgupta, 2005)

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