Synergistic effects of copper oxide-zeolite nanoparticles composite on photocatalytic degradation of 2,6-dimethylphenol aqueous solution

Abstract

Due to hazardous effects of the phenolic compounds for body life, an effective catalyst based on the supporting of CuO onto the nanoparticles of clinoptilolite (NC) was constructed. The NC powder was prepared via mechanical ball-mill technique and ion exchanged in Cu(II) aqueous solution. The exchanged Cu(II)-NC was calcined at 450°C for 12h for the preparation of CuO-NC catalyst. The resulted CuO-NC catalyst was then used in the photocatalytic degradation of 2,6-dimethyl phenol (DMP) aqueous solution, as a hazardous member of the phenolic compounds, under Hg-lamp irradiation. The used CuO-NC is simple, effective and cheap. The samples were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transformation Infrared (FT-IR), Ultra Violet-Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV–Vis DRS) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) techniques. After the study of the effects of some key operating factors influencing the degradation extent of DMP pollutant, the best photodegradation extent was obtained at 0.25gL−1 of CuO-NC catalyst and 30ppm DMP solution at pH5.5. The degradation process was monitored during the experimental runs through UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy and the degradation extent of DMP molecules was confirmed by the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) methods. The degradation process obeyed from the first–order kinetics.