Removing The Acid Orange 12 Azo Dye from Aqueous Solution Using Sodium Hypochlorite, A Kinetic and Thermodynamic Study

This study investigated the feasibility of using sodium hypochlorite as an advanced oxidation process to remove Acid Orange 12 azo dye from wastewater. For this purpose, batch reactor experiments were done. Several variables to address the efficiency of using this process were considered. These variables are initial pH (5, 7, and 9), the concentration of hypochlorite (50 – 250 mg/l), temperature (20-50) degrees Celsius, and time of electrolysis (1-75) min. also investigate the effects of UV on the process was done. Experimental results showed that the color removal efficiency using NaOCl with UV is more effective than NaOCl alone. The highest removal efficiency was obtained by increasing the concentration of NaOCl from (50-250mg/l) at PH=5. When the solution temperature was increased from (20-50) °C, the removal efficiency increased, and at the same time, the time required was reduced from (20-5) minutes to obtain the highest removal efficiency. The kinetic study also showed that the oxidation process follows a second-order reaction. The thermodynamic functions indicate that the response is spontaneous, endothermic, and increases randomness.

Constructing Er-Doped ZnO/CuS/Au Core-Shell Nanowires with Enhanced Photocatalytic and SERS Properties

In this study, we fabricated Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowires using two-step wet chemical methods and an ion-sputtering method on a glass substrate as a bifunctional photocatalytic and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. The characteristic properties of as-prepared photocatalysts were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, DR/UV-Vis spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Compared with Er-doped ZnO nanowires and Er-doped ZnO/CuS core-shell nanowires, Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowires exhibited remarkably photocatalytic activity to degrade acid orange 7 solutions under blue LED light. These results ascribed to the Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowires can enhance the visible-light absorbance and the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, inducing their higher photocatalytic activity under blue LED light. In addition, Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowires exhibit high sensitivity, a low detection limit (10−6 M), uniformity, recyclability, and stability of SERS performance for detected acid orange 7.