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Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions

BACKGROUND: Photo-degradation of organic contaminants into non-hazardous mineral compounds is emerging as a strategy to purify water and environment. Tremendous research is being done using direct solar light for these purposes. In this paper we report on optimum conditions for complete mineralizati...

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Autores principales: Zyoud, Ahed, Zu’bi, Amani, Helal, Muath H. S., Park, DaeHoon, Campet, Guy, Hilal, Hikmat S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4440263/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26000167
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40201-015-0204-0
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author Zyoud, Ahed
Zu’bi, Amani
Helal, Muath H. S.
Park, DaeHoon
Campet, Guy
Hilal, Hikmat S.
author_facet Zyoud, Ahed
Zu’bi, Amani
Helal, Muath H. S.
Park, DaeHoon
Campet, Guy
Hilal, Hikmat S.
author_sort Zyoud, Ahed
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Photo-degradation of organic contaminants into non-hazardous mineral compounds is emerging as a strategy to purify water and environment. Tremendous research is being done using direct solar light for these purposes. In this paper we report on optimum conditions for complete mineralization of aqueous methyl orange using lab-prepared ZnO nanopowder catalyst under simulated solar light. RESULTS: Nano-scale ZnO powder was prepared in the lab by standard methods, and then characterized using electronic absorption spectra, photolumenscence emission (PL) spectra, XRD, and SEM. The powder involved a wurtzite structure with ~19 nm particles living in agglomerates. Photo-degradation progressed faster under neutral or slightly acidic conditions which resemble natural waters. Increasing catalyst concentration increased photodegradation rate to a certain limit. Values of catalyst turn over number and degradation percentage increased under higher light intensity, whereas the quantum yield values decreased. The photocatalytic efficiency of nano-ZnO powders in methyl orange photodegradation in water with solar light has been affected by changing the working conditions. More importantly, the process may be used under natural water conditions with pH normally less than 7, with no need to use high concentrations of catalyst or contaminant. The results also highlight the negative impact of possible high concentrations of CO(2) on water purification processes. Effects of other added gaseous flows to the reaction mixture are also discussed. CONCLUSION: ZnO nano-particles are useful catalyst for complete mineralization of organic contaminants in water. Photo-degradation of organic contaminants with ZnO nano-particles, methyl orange being an example, should be considered for future large scale water purification processes under natural conditions.
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spelling pubmed-44402632015-05-22 Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions Zyoud, Ahed Zu’bi, Amani Helal, Muath H. S. Park, DaeHoon Campet, Guy Hilal, Hikmat S. J Environ Health Sci Eng Research Article BACKGROUND: Photo-degradation of organic contaminants into non-hazardous mineral compounds is emerging as a strategy to purify water and environment. Tremendous research is being done using direct solar light for these purposes. In this paper we report on optimum conditions for complete mineralization of aqueous methyl orange using lab-prepared ZnO nanopowder catalyst under simulated solar light. RESULTS: Nano-scale ZnO powder was prepared in the lab by standard methods, and then characterized using electronic absorption spectra, photolumenscence emission (PL) spectra, XRD, and SEM. The powder involved a wurtzite structure with ~19 nm particles living in agglomerates. Photo-degradation progressed faster under neutral or slightly acidic conditions which resemble natural waters. Increasing catalyst concentration increased photodegradation rate to a certain limit. Values of catalyst turn over number and degradation percentage increased under higher light intensity, whereas the quantum yield values decreased. The photocatalytic efficiency of nano-ZnO powders in methyl orange photodegradation in water with solar light has been affected by changing the working conditions. More importantly, the process may be used under natural water conditions with pH normally less than 7, with no need to use high concentrations of catalyst or contaminant. The results also highlight the negative impact of possible high concentrations of CO(2) on water purification processes. Effects of other added gaseous flows to the reaction mixture are also discussed. CONCLUSION: ZnO nano-particles are useful catalyst for complete mineralization of organic contaminants in water. Photo-degradation of organic contaminants with ZnO nano-particles, methyl orange being an example, should be considered for future large scale water purification processes under natural conditions. BioMed Central 2015-05-17 /pmc/articles/PMC4440263/ /pubmed/26000167 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40201-015-0204-0 Text en © Zyoud et al.; licensee BioMed Central. 2015 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Zyoud, Ahed
Zu’bi, Amani
Helal, Muath H. S.
Park, DaeHoon
Campet, Guy
Hilal, Hikmat S.
Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions
title Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions
title_full Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions
title_fullStr Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions
title_full_unstemmed Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions
title_short Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions
title_sort optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-zno catalyst under simulated natural conditions
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4440263/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26000167
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40201-015-0204-0
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