A. Sivasamy

Enhanced visible photocatalytic activity of cotton ball like nano structured Cu doped ZnO for the degradation of organic pollutant.

Stringent Environmental standards followed worldwide led to the emergence of advanced oxidation process for the removal of toxic contaminants from water and wastewater. Among all semiconductor photocatalysts have great potential in the degradation of organic and inorganic pollutants into lesser harmful products under visible light irradiations. The present research work describes the synthesis of Cu doped ZnO (CuDZ) via a co-precipitation method to attain high crystallized powder confirmed by XRD analysis. The FE-SEM images showed that the CuDZ has cotton ball like morphology with a uniform size ranged from 25 to 40nm. TEM, FT-IR and UV-DRS studies of the synthesized CuDZ are also discussed in detail. The photocatalytic activity of the as prepared CuDZ catalyst was tested for the degradation of Direct Blue 71 (DB 71) dye in aqueous phase under visible light irradiation. The degree of degradation was found to be dependent on aqueous phase pH, duration of irradiation time, amount of photocatalyst, the initial dye concentration and kinetics of photodegradation. The maximum photocatytic degradation of DB 71 dye was found to be effective at pH 6.8. The optimum amount of photocatalyst was found 3gL-1 of CuDZ for the complete degradation of DB 71 dye (0.01gL-1). The reusability of the photocatalyst indicates that 96% of DB 71 dye was degraded up to 3rd cycles of use. The visible photodegradation of DB 71 dye was exhibited pseudo-first-order kinetics. Chemical oxygen demand and ESI-MS studies confirmed the complete mineralization of DB 71 dye molecules.

Sonocatalytic degradation of malachite green oxalate by a semiconductor metal oxide nanocatalyst

Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) technologies are considered to be better technique for the degradation or mineralization of many recalcitrant compounds and pollutants. In the present study heterogeneous sonocatalytic degradation of a model organic compound such as Malachite green oxalate (MGO) was carried out in the aqueous phase. Zinc oxide nanorods were prepared by precipitation method employing zinc acetates as precursors and were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM and EDAX analysis. Degradation of MGO in the aqueous phase was studied in detail under the sonocatalytic process. Effects of pH, dye concentration, oxidant concentration, kinetics and effect of electrolytes on dye degradation were carried out to check the efficiency of the sonocatalyst. Effect of energy input on the degradation processes was also investigated. The degradation of dye molecules were monitored by UV-visible spectrophotometer and Chemical Oxygen demand (COD). The dye molecules were readily degraded at above 90% in the pH range 5.0-7.0 under ultrasound with zinc oxide nanorods. The interference of electrolytes like NaCl, KCl, Na2CO3, NaHCO3 and MgSO4 on the degradation of dye molecules were also studied on the sonocatalytic degradation of MGO. From the kinetic studies it was observed that at lower initial concentration of dye molecules the degradation efficiency was above 90%. The rate of the reaction decreased on increasing the initial dye concentrations of the dye molecules. It was observed that the complete mineralization of dye molecules was achieved without the formation of toxic by-products. The reusability of the catalyst also showed the effective degradation of the dye molecules up to five cycles without loss of the catalytic activities.

Graphene oxide coated with porous iron oxide ribbons for 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) removal.

Graphene oxide (GO) was prepared from commercially available graphite powder. Porous iron oxide ribbons were grown on the surface of GO by solvothermal process. The prepared GO-Fe3O4 nanocomposites are characterized by FT-IR, XRD, VSM, SEM, TEM, Raman spectroscopy, surface functionality and zero point charge studies. The morphology of the iron oxide ribbons grown on GO is demonstrated with TEM at various magnifications. The presence of magnetite nanoparticles is evident from XRD peaks and the magnetization value is found to be 37.28emu/g. The ratio of intensity of D-peak to G-peak from Raman spectrum is 0.995. The synthesized Graphene oxide-Fe3O4 nanocomposites (GO-Fe3O4) were explored for its surface adsorptive properties by using a model organic compound, 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption studies were performed and the equilibrium data are modelled with Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms. The maximum monolayer capacity from Langmuir isotherm is 67.26mg/g. Kinetic studies were also carried out and the studied adsorption process followed pseudo second-order rate equation. Mechanism of the adsorption process is studied by fitting the data with intraparticle diffusion model and Boyd plot. The studied adsorption process is both by film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion.

Nanocrystalline semiconductor doped rare earth oxide for the photocatalytic degradation studies on Acid Blue 113: A di-azo compound under UV slurry photoreactor

Preventive measures for the control of environmental pollution and its remediation has received much interest in recent years due to the world-wide increase in the contamination of water bodies. Contributions of these harmful effluents are caused by the leather processing, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, textile, agricultural and other chemical industries. Nowadays, advanced oxidation processes considered to be better option for the complete destruction of organic contaminants in water and wastewater. Acid Blue 113 is a most widely used di-azo compound in leather, textile, dying and food industry as a color rending compound. In the present study, we have reported the photo catalytic degradation of Acid Blue 113 using a nanocrystalline semiconductor doped rare earth oxide as a photo catalyst under UV light irradiation. The photocatalyst was prepared by a simple precipitation technique and were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, UV-DRS and FE-SEM analysis. The experimental results proved that the prepared photo catalyst was nanocrystalline and highly active in the UV region. The UV-DRS results showed the band gap energy was 3.15eV for the prepared photo catalyst. The photodegradation efficiency was analyzed by various experimental parameters such as pH, catalyst dosage, variation of substrate concentration and effect of electrolyte addition. The photo degradation process followed a pseudo first order kinetics and was continuously monitored by UV-visible spectrophotometer. The experimental results proved the efficacy of the nanocrystalline zinc oxide doped dysprosium oxide which are highly active under UV light irradiations. It is also suggested that the prepared material would find wider applications in environmental remediation technologies to remove the carcinogenic and toxic moieties present in the industrial effluents.

Synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide nanorods and its photocatalytic activities towards degradation of 2,4-D

Semiconductor zinc oxide nanorods (NRZnO) were prepared by sol-gel technique using zinc acetate as the precursor and ammonia as the precipitating agent. The prepared photocatalyst were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis-DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), High Resolution-Tunneling Microscope (HR-TEM), Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) analysis. Particle size of the prepared photocatalyst was established by XRD and FE-SEM analysis. The morphology and the formation of uniform NRZnO was controlled by the temperature, entire concentration of precursors, duration of aging process. High surface roughness and porosity confirmed by AFM analysis. Band gap energy of the synthesized photocatalyst (3.2eV) was determined by using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The in-situ production of OH radicals by the prepared photocatalyst was confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) spin trapping technique. The photocatalytic activity of prepared NRZnO was evaluated by photo degradation of 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) under UV and visible light irradiations. Experimental parameter such as effect of pH, catalyst dosage, initial 2, 4- D concentrations and addition of different electrolytes on the degradation of 2, 4-D was also studied in detail. Neutral pH was found to be the optimum and catalyst dosage of 30mg/10ml resulted in higher percentage of degradation. The photo degraded samples were analyzed by chemical oxygen demand (COD) analysis, UV-Visible spectroscopy. Reusability of the prepared photocatalyst was tested upto three cycles without affecting its performance. The experimental shown the rate of degradation follows pseudo-first order rate kinetics with respect to 2, 4 D.

Nitrogen doped nanocrystalline semiconductor metal oxide: An efficient UV active photocatalyst for the oxidation of an organic dye using slurry Photoreactor.

Water pollution is a cause for serious concern in todays world. A major contributor to water pollution is industrial effluents containing dyes and other organic molecules. Waste water treatment has become a priority area in todays applied scientific research as it seeks to minimize the toxicity of the effluents being discharged and increase the possibility of water recycling. An efficient and eco-friendly way of degrading toxic molecules is to use nano metal-oxide photocatalysts. The present study aims at enhancing the photocatalytic activity of a semiconductor metal oxide by doping it with nitrogen. A sol-gel cum combustion method was employed to synthesize the catalyst. The prepared catalyst was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, UV-DRS, FESEM and AFM techniques. UV-DRS result showed the catalyst to possess band gap energy of 2.97eV, thus making it active in the UV region of the spectrum. Its photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of a model pollutant-Orange G dye, under UV light irradiation. Preliminary experiments were carried out to study the effects of pH, catalyst dosage and initial dye concentration on the extent of dye degradation. Kinetic studies revealed that the reaction followed pseudo first order kinetics. The effect of electrolytes on catalyst efficiency was also studied. The progress of the reaction was monitored by absorption studies and measuring the reduction in COD. The catalyst thus prepared was seen to have a high photocatalytic efficiency. The use of this catalyst is a promising means of waste water treatment.