Abstract
In the present study, the development of innovative polyurethane-polyaniline/TiO2 modified floating materials applied in the sorption and photodegradation of rhodamine B from water matrix under solar light irradiation is reported. All the materials were fabricated with inexpensive and easy approaches and were properly characterized. The effect of the kind of polyaniline (PANI) dopant on the materials’ behavior was investigated, as well as the role of the conducting polymer in the pollutant abatement on the basis of its physico-chemical characteristics. Rhodamine B is removed by adsorption and/or photodegradation processes depending on the type of doping agent used for PANI protonation. The best materials were subjected to recycle tests in order to demonstrate their stability under the reaction conditions. The main transformation products formed during the photodegradation process were identified by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS). The results demonstrated that photoactive floating PANI/TiO2 composites are useful alternatives to common powder photocatalysts for the degradation of cationic dyes.
Highlights
In the last decades, the rapid growth of the world’s population and the expansion of industrialization and agriculture have caused an exponential increase of fresh water demand
We describe the effect of the type of PANI dopant on the properties of the material, which is able to enhance its adsorbing or photocatalytic properties
The long non-polar chain of dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) increases the hydrophobicity of the foam, whereas the oxo group of camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) takes part in hydrogen bonding, making polyurethane (PU) floating foam (PT/PU)
Summary
The rapid growth of the world’s population and the expansion of industrialization and agriculture have caused an exponential increase of fresh water demand. In addition to traditional pollutants, the presence of new contaminants in polluted water has become a global issue because conventional wastewater treatment processes lead to an incomplete removal of these recalcitrant compounds [1,2,3,4]. The scientific community has addressed its efforts to the development of highly efficient low-cost and low-impact treatments. It has been demonstrated that water pollution is responsible for 1.5 million human deaths every year [1]. Among the different aqueous pollutants, dyes have become a global issue owing to their diffusion and because they exhibit mutagenic, immunogenic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic characteristics [5,6]. Dyes find application in numerous and different fields ranging from coloring textures to plastics, passing from inks, cosmetics and so on [7]
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