Oxidative Degradation/Mineralization of Dimethyl Phthalate (DMP) from Plastic Industrial Wastewater Using Ferrate (VI)/TiO2 under Ultraviolet Irradiation

Author(s):  
Ping Wang ◽  
Yi Ding ◽  
Liting Zhu ◽  
Yunhao Zhang ◽  
Sijie Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract A novel ferrate (VI)/titanium dioxide/ultraviolet [Fe(VI)/TiO2/UV] system was successfully established for the photocatalytic oxidation of dimethyl phthalate (DMP). This system demonstrated a higher removel efficiency of DMP (95.2%) than the conventional TiO2/UV and Fe(VI) alone systems (51.8% and 23.5%, respectively), and produced obvious synergistic effects. Response surface methodology (RSM), based on a three level, three independent variables design, was conducted through Design Expert 8.0.6 program, and a second-order polynomial model (R2 = 0.998) was developed to quantitatively describe the photocatalysis of TiO2 combined with Fe(VI) oxidation under ultraviolet irradiation. The fresh TiO2 and photochemical reacted Fe(VI)/TiO2 were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and element dispersive spectrum (EDS), which indicated that Fe(VI) was imprinted into the TiO2, and the surface adsorbed Fe-O-(organic) materials inhibited DMP degradation. This photocatalytic oxidant showed high activity and stability after nine cycles without loss of its effectiveness (counting from the second cycle). The intermediates/products of DMP were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The proposed pathway for DMP degradation involved one electron transfer of hydroxyl radical and breaking of the ester bond and benzene ring. The mineralization efficiencies of DMP in actual industrial wastewater and simulated water were 87.1% and 95.2%, respectively, suggesting practical field applications. A ecotoxicity test (17.3% inhibition on bioluminescence) in treating actual industial wastewater containing DMP implied that the proposed Fe(VI)/TiO2/UV has a potential for industrial water treatment.

Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Yu-Ming Chu ◽  
Hafiz Muhammad Asif Javed ◽  
Muhammad Awais ◽  
Muhammad Ijaz Khan ◽  
Sana Shafqat ◽  
...  

The photocatalytic pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass to oxidize lignin and increase biomass stability has gained attention during the last few years. Conventional pretreatment methods are limited by the fact that they are expensive, non-renewable and contaminate the anaerobic digestate later on. The present study was focused to develop a metal-derived photocatalyst that can work with visible electromagnetic spectra light and oxidize commercial lignin liquor. During this project the advanced photocatalytic oxidation of lignin was achieved by using a quartz cube tungsten T3 Halogen 100 W lamp with a laboratory manufactured TiO2-ZnO nanoparticle (nanocomposite) in a self-designed apparatus. The products of lignin oxidation were confirmed to be vanillic acid (9.71 ± 0.23 mg/L), ferrulic acid (7.34 ± 0.16 mg/L), benzoic acid (6.12 ± 0.17 mg/L) and p-coumaric acid (3.80 ± 0.13 mg/L). These all products corresponded to 85% of the lignin oxidation products that were detectable, which is significantly more than any previously reported lignin pretreatment with even more intensity. Furthermore, all the pretreatment samples were supplemented in the form of feedstock diluent in uniformly operating continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs). The results of pretreatment revealed 85% lignin oxidation and later on these products did not hinder the CSTR performance at any stage. Moreover, the synergistic effects of pretreated lignin diluent were seen that resulted in 39% significant increase in the methane yield of the CSTR with constant operation. Finally, the visible light and nanoparticles alone could not pretreat lignin and when used as diluent, halted and reduced the methane yield by 37% during 4th HRT.


Hydrogen ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-21
Author(s):  
Youyi Sun ◽  
Alexey Y. Ganin

Metal alloys have become a ubiquitous choice as catalysts for electrochemical hydrogen evolution in alkaline media. However, scarce and expensive Pt remains the key electrocatalyst in acidic electrolytes, making the search for earth-abundant and cheaper alternatives important. Herein, we present a facile and efficient synthetic route towards polycrystalline Co3Mo and Co7Mo6 alloys. The single-phased nature of the alloys is confirmed by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. When electrochemically tested, they achieve competitively low overpotentials of 115 mV (Co3Mo) and 160 mV (Co7Mo6) at 10 mA cm−2 in 0.5 M H2SO4, and 120 mV (Co3Mo) and 160 mV (Co7Mo6) at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH. Both alloys outperform Co and Mo metals, which showed significantly higher overpotentials and lower current densities when tested under identical conditions, confirming the synergistic effect of the alloying. However, the low overpotential in Co3Mo comes at the price of stability. It rapidly becomes inactive when tested under applied potential bias. On the other hand, Co7Mo6 retains the current density over time without evidence of current decay. The findings demonstrate that even in free-standing form and without nanostructuring, polycrystalline bimetallic electrocatalysts could challenge the dominance of Pt in acidic media if ways for improving their stability were found.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 156
Author(s):  
Manjing Lu ◽  
Jiaqi Wang ◽  
Yuzhong Wang ◽  
Zhengguang He

Chemical synthetic pharmaceutical wastewater has characteristics of high concentration, high toxicity and poor biodegradability, so it is difficult to directly biodegrade. We used acid modified attapulgite (ATP) supported Fe-Mn-Cu polymetallic oxide as catalyst for multi-phase Fenton-like ultraviolet photocatalytic oxidation (photo-Fenton) treatment with actual chemical synthetic pharmaceutical wastewater as the treatment object. The results showed that at the initial pH of 2.0, light distance of 20 cm, and catalyst dosage and hydrogen peroxide concentration of 10.0 g/L and 0.5 mol/L respectively, the COD removal rate of wastewater reached 65% and BOD5/COD increased to 0.387 when the reaction lasted for 180 min. The results of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) indicated that Fenton-like reaction with Fe-Mn-Cu@ATP had good catalytic potential and significant synergistic effect, and could remove almost all heterocycle compounds well. 3D-EEM (3D electron microscope) fluorescence spectra showed that the fluorescence intensity decreased significantly during catalytic degradation, and the UV humus-like and fulvic acid were effectively removed. The degradation efficiency of the nanocomposite only decreased by 5.8% after repeated use for 6 cycles. It seems appropriate to use this process as a pre-treatment for actual pharmaceutical wastewater to facilitate further biological treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 184798042098153
Author(s):  
Norsahika Mohd Basir ◽  
Norkhalizatul Akmal Mohd Jamil ◽  
Halimaton Hamdan

The catalytic conversion of palm oil was carried out over four zeolite catalysts—Y, ZSM-5, Y-ZSM-5 hybrid, and Y/ZSM-5 composite—to produce jet biofuel with high amount of alkanes and low amount of aromatic hydrocarbons. The zeolite Y-ZSM-5 hybrid catalyst was synthesized using crystalline zeolite Y as the seed for the growth of zeolite ZSM-5. Synthesized zeolite catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and temperature programmed desorption of ammonia, while the chemical compositions of the jet biofuel were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The conversion of palm oil over zeolite Y resulted in the highest yield (42 wt%) of jet biofuel: a high selectivity of jet range alkanes (51%) and a low selectivity of jet range aromatic hydrocarbons (25%). Zeolite Y-ZSM-5 hybrid catalyst produced a decreased percentage of jet range alkane (30%) and a significant increase in the selectivity of aromatic hydrocarbons (57%). The highest conversion of palm oil to hydrocarbon compounds was achieved by zeolite Y-ZSM-5 hybrid catalyst (99%), followed by zeolite Y/ZSM-5 composite (96%), zeolite Y (91%), and zeolite ZSM-5 (74%). The reaction routes for converting palm oil to jet biofuel involve deoxygenation of fatty acids into C15–C18 alkanes via decarboxylation and decarbonylation, catalytic cracking into C8–C14 alkanes, and cycloalkanes as well as aromatization into aromatic hydrocarbon.


Polymers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Zedler ◽  
Marek Klein ◽  
Mohammad Reza Saeb ◽  
Xavier Colom ◽  
Javier Cañavate ◽  
...  

Ground tire rubber (GTR) was mechano-chemically modified with road bitumen 160/220 and subsequently treated using a microwave radiation. The combined impact of bitumen 160/220 content and microwave treatment on short-term devulcanization of GTR was studied by thermal camera, wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (WD-XRF), static headspace, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SHS-GC-MS), thermogravimetric analysis combined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TGA-FTIR), oscillating disc rheometer and static mechanical properties measurements. The obtained results showed that bitumen plasticizer prevents oxidation of GTR during microwave treatment and simultaneously improves processing and thermal stability of obtained reclaimed rubber.


Author(s):  
Nurul Sahida Hassan ◽  
Nurul Jamilah Roslani ◽  
Aishah Abdul Jalil ◽  
Sugeng Triwahyono ◽  
Nur Fatien Salleh ◽  
...  

In recent years, dyes are one of the major sources of the water contamination that lead to environmental problems. For instance, Rhodamine B (RhB) which was extensively used as a colorant in textile industries is toxic and carcinogenic. Among many techniques, photocatalytic degradation become the promising one to remove those dyes from industrial wastewater. Recently, graphene has shown outstanding performance in this application due to its intrinsic electron delocalisation which promotes electron transport between composite photocatalyst and pollutant molecules. While, copper oxide (CuO) is well-known has a lower bandgap energies compared to other semiconductors. Therefore, in this study, copper oxide supported on graphene (CuO/G) was prepared and its photocatalytic activity was tested on degradation of RhB. The catalysts were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. The results showed that the interaction between copper and graphene support could enhance the photocatalytic activity. The 5 wt% CuO/G was found to give the highest degradation (95%) of 10 mg L-1 of RhB solution at pH 7 using 1 g L-1 catalyst after 4 hours under visible light irradiation. The photodegradation followed the pseudo first-order Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model. This study demonstrated that the CuO/G has a potential to be used in photocatalytic degradation of various organic pollutants.


BioResources ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1548-1560
Author(s):  
Daniel Garcia-Bedoya ◽  
Luis P. Ramírez-Rodríguez ◽  
Jesús M. Quiroz-Castillo ◽  
Edgard Esquer-Miranda ◽  
Arnulfo Castellanos-Moreno

Algae constitute a diverse group that is useful in many biotechnological areas. In this paper, the usefulness of Caulerpa sertularioides methanol extract in the synthesis of ZnO and Zn(OH)2 nanoparticles was explored. This work had two main objectives: (1) to use the extract in the synthesis as an organic harmless complexing agent, and (2) to enhance a photocatalytic effect over AZO dyes in wastewater from fabric industries without adding nanomaterial to the environment due to its toxicity. Caulerpa extract performed the expected complexing action, and nanoparticles were formed in a size range from 45 to 69 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-Vis spectroscopy were used to characterize the system. It was demonstrated that the nanoparticles were useful to photocatalyst AZO dyes in the water, while contained in tetraethylorthosilicate composites. These could be used in industrial wastewater and are expected to have no environmental consequences because the composites do not add nanoparticles to the water.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 3193
Author(s):  
Sylva Holešová ◽  
Karla Čech Čech Barabaszová ◽  
Marianna Hundáková ◽  
Michaela Ščuková ◽  
Kamila Hrabovská ◽  
...  

Infection with pathogenic microorganisms is of great concern in many areas, especially in healthcare, but also in food packaging and storage, or in water purification systems. Antimicrobial polymer nanocomposites have gained great popularity in these areas. Therefore, this study focused on new approaches to develop thin antimicrobial films based on biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) with clay mineral natural vermiculite as a carrier for antimicrobial compounds, where the active organic antimicrobial component is antifungal ciclopirox olamine (CPX). For possible synergistic effects, a sample in combination with the inorganic antimicrobial active ingredient zinc oxide was also prepared. The structures of all the prepared samples were studied by X-ray diffraction, FTIR analysis and, predominantly, by SEM. The very different structure properties of the prepared nanofillers had a fundamental influence on the final structural arrangement of thin PCL nanocomposite films as well as on their mechanical, thermal, and surface properties. As sample PCL/ZnOVER_CPX possessed the best results for antimicrobial activity against examined microbial strains, the synergic effect of CPX and ZnO combination on antimicrobial activity was proved, but on the other hand, its mechanical resistance was the lowest.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Ridzuan ◽  
Hairul Aini Hamzah ◽  
Anis Shah ◽  
Norazian Mohd Hassan ◽  
Baharudin Roesnita

Antibacterial activity of different types of P. odorata leaf extracts was evaluated in combination with standard antibiotics. Persicaria. odorata leaves were extracted with n-hexane (n-hex), dichloromethane (DCM) and methanol (MeOH).  Each extract was applied on vancomycin (30µg), erythromycin (15µg) and gentamicin (10µg) discs, respectively. Disk diffusion method was used to evaluate the synergistic activity of each combination on Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, and Escherichia coli. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis was performed on the active extract. Synergistic effects seen were mainly from the n-hex+antibiotics combinations, mainly on the Gram-positive bacteria (7 additive, 5 antagonistic), with MIC range from 50 µg/ml to 100 µg/ml, as well as Gram-negative bacteria (2 additive, 2 indifferent, 5 antagonistic). In particular, synergism showed by the combination of n-hex+van were all additive against the susceptible bacteria. DCM extract combination showed synergistic effects on three Gram-positive species (S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. pyogenes). Meanwhile, MeOH+antibiotics combination showed significant additive synergistic effects (p<0.05) on S. aureus and S. epidermidis.  The major compounds of leaves extract were decanal and β-citral. n-Hex extract superiorly inhibited Gram-positive bacteria growth as compared to DCM and MeOH extracts. The additive synergistic property of the n-hex P. odorata extract could be further studied for possible use as an antibacterial agent.


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