Preparation of Ag3PO4/CoWO4 S-scheme heterojunction and study on sonocatalytic degradation of tetracycline

In this study, 0.6Ag₃PO₄/CoWO₄ composites were synthesized by hydrothermal method. The prepared materials were systematically characterized by techniques of scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N₂ adsorption/desorption, and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS). Furthermore, the sonocatalytic degradation performance of 0.6Ag₃PO₄/CoWO₄ composites towards tetracycline (TC) was investigated under ultrasonic radiation. The results showed that, combined with potassium persulfate (K₂S₂O₈), the 0.6Ag₃PO₄/CoWO₄ composites achieved a high sonocatalytic degradation efficiency of 97.89 % within 10 min, which was much better than bare Ag₃PO₄ or CoWO₄. By measuring the electrochemical properties, it was proposed that the degradation mechanism of 0.6Ag₃PO₄/CoWO₄ is the formation of S-scheme heterojunction, which increases the separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs (e^--h⁺) and generates more electrons and holes, thereby enhancing the degradation activity. The scavenger experiments confirmed that hole (h⁺) was the primary active substance in degrading TC, and free radicals (OH) and superoxide anion radical (O₂^–) were auxiliary active substances. The results indicated that 0.6Ag₃PO₄/CoWO₄ nanocomposites could be used as an efficient and reliable sonocatalyst for wastewater treatment.     

Improving efficiency for removal of ammoniacal nitrogen from wastewaters using hydrodynamic cavitation

The present study reports significant improvements in the removal of ammoniacal nitrogen from wastewater which is an important problem for many industries such as dyes and pigment, distilleries and fisheries. Pilot plant studies (capacity, 1 m³/h) on synthetic wastewater using 4-amino phenol as model nitrogen containing organic compound and two real industrial effluents of high ammoniacal nitrogen content were carried out using hydrodynamic cavitation. Two reactor geometries were evaluated for increased efficiency in removal-orifice and vortex diode. Effect of initial concentration (100–500 mg/L), effect of pressure drop (0.5–5 bar) and nature of cavitating device (linear and vortex flow for cavitation) were evaluated along with effect of salt content, effect of hydrogen peroxide addition and aeration. Initial concentration was found to have significant impact on the extent of removal: ~ 5 g/m³ removal for initial concentration of 100 mg/L and up to 12 g/m³ removal at high concentration of 500 mg/L. Interestingly, significant improvement of the order of magnitude (up to 8 times) in removal of ammoniacal nitrogen could be obtained by sparging air or oxygen in hydrodynamic cavitation and a very high removal of above 80% could be achieved. The removal of ammoniacal nitrogen by vortex diode was also found to be effective in the industrial wastewaters and results on two different effluent samples of distillery industry indicated up to 75% removal, though with longer time of treatment compared to that of synthetic wastewater. The developed methodology of hydrodynamic cavitation technology with aeration and vortex diode as a cavitating device was found to be highly effective for improving the efficiency of the conventional cavitation methods and hence can be highly useful in industrial wastewater treatment, specifically for the removal of ammoniacal nitrogen.     

微氧化烧结制备掺杂Y2O3的SiC陶瓷及含镉模拟废水处理

采用了微氧化烧结制备了不同Y₂O₃质量分数（0%、2%、4%、6%）的多孔SiC陶瓷，通过对陶瓷的晶体结构、微观形貌、物理性能和Cd²⁺的去除率测试发现：添加了Y₂O₃的SiC陶瓷出现了较多的第二相Y₂SiO₇、Y₅Si₃C_0.5，随着Y₂O₃的质量分数增加逐渐升高，主相的衍射峰的强度有降低。扫描电子显微镜测试发现，SiC陶瓷的尺寸在2.5 μm，Y₂O₃引入后，SiC陶瓷的晶粒尺寸降低，高温烧结时液相的含量增加，熔体粘度降低，晶粒结合更加紧密，Y₂O₃的引入提高了多孔陶瓷的体积密度，Y₂O₃质量分数为6%SiC的体积密度最大为2.21 g/cm³。热导率随着Y₂O₃质量分数的增加呈现出先升高后降低的趋势。金属Cd²⁺的过滤测试表明：随着Y₂O₃质量分数增加，Cd²⁺的残留质量浓度、膜通量和去除率先降低后升高，当掺杂质量分数为4%时，Cd²⁺残留质量浓度最低为0.042 mg/L，膜通量达到了最大值572 L/（m²·h），去除率最大为99.95%，相比未掺质量分数杂体系的去除率提高了0.14%。随着溶液pH值的逐渐增大，金属Cd²⁺的残留质量浓度逐渐降低、去除率逐渐升高，pH≥9时最终均趋于稳定。综合来看，多孔SiC陶瓷的助烧剂Y₂O₃最佳掺量为4%。     

Nanoporous NiO@SiO2 photo-catalyst prepared by ion-exchange method for fast elimination of reactive dyes from wastewater

Photo-catalytic elimination of organic contaminants plays a significant role in wastewater treatment. Developing a highly efficient photo-catalyst is one of the leading research topic. Herein, we reported the fabrication of a novel nanoporous NiO@SiO₂ photo-catalyst by a simple ion-exchange method to eliminate the reactive dyes. The synthesized NiO@SiO₂ catalyst exhibited fast photo-degradation and excellent adsorption capability and could efficiently remove Red FN-3GL dye from wastewater, due to a high loading of NiO and a large specific surface area, abundant electron-withdrawing groups, as well as narrow bandgap energy. In addition, the NiO@SiO₂ photo-catalyst also displayed a high capability to remove reactive dyes over a wide range of pH values (pH 3–9). The prominent adsorption and photo-degradation of dyes were strongly dependent on the surface charge of the catalyst and the generation of hydroxyl radicals (OH^?) by the catalyst, respectively. Furthermore, the NiO@SiO₂ photo-catalyst also exhibited excellent recyclability, thus demonstrating the feasibility of practical applications in industries. The strategy of covering the metal oxide to nanoporous silica is a promising method for developing active photo-catalysts and applying them in the wastewater treatments.     

Synthesis of UiO-66 with addition of HKUST-1 for enhanced adsorption of RBBR dye

Toxic dye removal, one of the most serious and common industrial pollutants released into natural water, is a critical issue for modern civilization. In this study, a series of UiO-66 composites was synthesized with addition of HKUST-1 using solvothermal method, which was used to remove RBBR dye. The structure, morphology and surface area of the composites were studied by several analyses. HK(5)/UiO-66 possessed a specific surface area of 557.63 m²/g and showed an adsorption capacity of 400 mg/g, higher than that of UiO-66 (261.92 mg/g) with a contact time of 50 min. Several adsorption parameters that influenced RBBR removal efficiency were investigated, such as pH, initial dye concentrations, and temperature. All the composites followed pseudo-first order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm adsorption. Moreover, the adsorption process occurred exothermically and spontaneously, indicating that the adsorption process was advantageous in terms of energy. The possible adsorption mechanism and cost analysis of the adsorbent were also studied in detail.     

Application of BaTiO3-based catalysts for piezocatalytic,photocatalytic and piezo-photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and bacterial disinfection in wastewater: A comprehensive review

The coupling of piezocatalysis and photocatalysis known as piezo-photocatalysis has attracted a lot of attention as one of the most effective advanced oxidation process (AOPs) for wastewater treatment, especially for the degradation of organic pollutants and disinfection of microbes. To advance this technology, there’s a need to develop lead free piezoelectric materials to drive both piezocatalytic and photocatalytic process to prevent secondary pollution due to lead toxicity. Hence, barium titanate (BaTiO₃) has been widely used as lead free piezoelectric material for several applications including water splitting, bacterial disinfection, and wastewater treatment due to its exceptional optical and piezoelectric properties. This work presents a comprehensive review on the application of BaTiO₃ as a promising lead-free piezo-photocatalyst for the catalytic degradation of organic pollutants and bacterial disinfection from aqueous solution. This review article details the optical and piezoelectric properties, modification strategies, and synthetic methods of BaTiO₃. Furthermore, the application of BaTiO₃ as a preferred piezo-photocatalyst for wastewater treatment and a future perspective is presented.     

Effect of Direct yellow 50 removal from an aqueous solution using nano bentonite; adsorption isotherm,kinetic analysis and also thermodynamic behavior

The developing countries are suffering from the toxicity of different industrial effluents, especially dyes that contaminate water systems. This study successfully explained the preparation and characterization of nano bentonite to extract Direct Yellow Fifty (DY50). Direct Yellow 50 is an organic contaminant that may affect the quality of water. The characterization of prepared nanoparticles was done using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR). The impact of different operating conditions was studied using different pH, dose, temperature, contact time, and initial DY50 concentrations. The obtained results indicated that nano bentonite could adsorb about 94 % at initial concentrations of 40 mg/L, respectively. The optimum removal conditions were observed at an acidic pH (pH 3) using a sorbent material dosage of 0.05 g for 4 h at 30 °C. The adsorption isotherm, kinetic analysis, and thermodynamic behavior were studied using linear equation form, and the adjusted R² was compared to detect the preferred models. The adsorption behavior pseudo-second order kinetics, and fitted Langmuir isotherm model, respectively, showed the chemisorption interactions between adsorbed and sorbed molecules. Thermodynamic behavior indicated that the reaction was exothermic. Finally, this study strongly recommended using nano bentonite for DY50 removal from an aqueous solution.     

Determination of four acidic nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs in wastewater samples by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplet and high‐performance liquid chromatography

A simple, environmentally friendly, and sensitive dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplet for the extraction of four acidic nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (ketoprofen, naproxen, ibuprofen, and diclofenac) from wastewater samples subsequent by high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis was developed. The influence of extraction parameters such as pH, the effect of solution ionic strength, type of extraction solvent, disperser solvent, and extraction solvent volume were studied. High enrichment factors (283–302) were obtained through the developed method. The method provides good linearity (r > 0.999) in a concentration range of 1–100 μg/L, good intra‐ and inter‐day precision (relative standard deviation < 7%) and low limits of quantification. The relative recoveries of the selected compounds were situated over 80% both in synthetic and real water samples. The developed method has been successfully applied for the analysis of the selected compounds in wastewater samples.