Photocatalytic Activity of Supported Metal Nanoparticles and Single Atoms

Photocatalysis has been known as one of the promising technologies due to its eco-friendly nature. However, the potential application of many photocatalysts is limited owing to their large bandgaps and inefficient use of the solar spectrum. One strategy to overcome this problem is to combine the advantages of heteroatom-containing supports with active metal centers to accurately adjust the structural parameters. Metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and single atom catalysts (SACs) are excellent candidates due to their distinctive coordination environment which enhances photocatalytic activity. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) have shown great potential as catalyst support for SACs and MNPs. The numerous combinations of organic linkers with various heteroatoms and metal ions provide unique structural characteristics to achieve advanced materials. This review describes the recent advancement of the modified MOFs, COFs and g-C₃N₄ with SACs and NPs for enhanced photocatalytic applications with emphasis on environmental remediation.     

Fabrication and application of a new modified electrochemical sensor using nano-silica and a newly synthesized Schiff base for simultaneous determination of Cd,Cu and Hg ions in water and some foodstuff samples

A new chemically modified carbon paste electrode was constructed and used for rapid, simple, accurate, selective and highly sensitive simultaneous determination of cadmium, copper and mercury using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). The carbon paste electrode was modified by N,N′-bis(3-(2-thenylidenimino)propyl)piperazine coated silica nanoparticles. Compared with carbon paste electrode, the stripping peak currents had a significant increase at the modified electrode. Under the optimized conditions (deposition potential, −1.100 V vs. Ag/AgCl; deposition time, 60 s; resting time, 10 s; SW frequency, 25 Hz; pulse amplitude, 0.15 V; dc voltage step height, 4.4 mV), the detection limit was 0.3, 0.1 and 0.05 ng mL⁻¹ for the determination of Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺, respectively. The complexation reaction of the ligand with several metal cations in methanol was studied and the stability constants of the complexes were obtained. The effects of different cations and anions on the simultaneous determination of metal ions were studied and it was found that the electrode is highly selective for the simultaneous determination of Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺. Furthermore, the present method was applied to the determination of Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ in water and some foodstuff samples.     

Chemically bonded multiwalled carbon nanotubes as efficient material for solid phase extraction of some metal ions in food samples

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes chemically functionalized with 2-((3-silylpropylimino) methyl) phenol (SPIMP-MWCNT) and successfully applied for the solid phase extraction (SPE) of some metal ions in food samples. The influences of the analytical parameters including pH, amounts of solid phase, eluent conditions (type, volume and concentrations), sample volume and interference of some metal ions on the recoveries of ions Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, Fe²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ ion were investigated. The metal ions retained on SPIMP-MWCNT was eluted using 6?mL of 4?mol?L^?1 HNO₃ solution and their content was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) with recoveries more than 95% and relative standard deviations (n?=?5) between 2.4–3.4% for both reproducibility and repeatability. The detection limit of this metal ions was between 1.0–2.6?ng?mL^?1 (3S _b , n?=?10) and their preconcentration factor was 100, while their loading capacity was above 32.9?mg?g^?1 of SPIMP-MWCNT. The proposed method was successfully applied for the preconcentration and determination of analytes in different samples.     

Optimization of solid phase dispersive field‐assisted ultrasonication for the extraction of auramine O and crystal violet dyes using central composite design

Simultaneous preconcentration and determination of auramine o (AO) and crystal violet (CV) dyes from aqueous solution was conducted by ultrasound assisted (dispersive) solid phase microextraction (UASPME) based on SnO₂/SnS composite loaded activated carbon (SnO₂/SnS‐NCs‐AC). The prepared of SnO₂/SnS‐NCs‐AC was characterized by FESEM and XRD analysis. Main and interaction influences of operational parameters such as pH, sonication time, amounts of sorbent, and type of eluent on extraction efficiency were investigated by central composite design and optimized with desirability function approach (DFA). ANOVA was conducted and shows that optimized values were found at 15.33 min sonication time, 0.019 g SnO₂/SnS‐NCs‐AC mass, pH 5.46 and among different solvents, dimethyl formamide was selected as an efficient eluent. Under this conditions recoverees percentage were obtained 82.85% and 86.70% for AO and CV, respectively. Based on F‐test under ANOVA all main effect and interaction effect of understudy parameters has the significant effect on the responses. At optimum conditions, limit of detection (0.0015 and 0.001 mg/l), limit of quantitation (0.4 and 0.4 mg/l), limit of linearity (9.0 and 9.0 mg/l), enrichment factor (33.48 and 83.71) and percent relative standard deviation (3.44 and 4.20) were found to be for auramine o and crystal violet dyes, respectively. Finally, the method was successfully applied for the preconcentration and determination of AO and CV in water samples and ER% of 89.0‐97.0 and 96.2–98.0% as acceptable range were found to be for AO and CV samples, respectively.     

Synthesis of CuS nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon composite for ultrasound‐assisted adsorption removal of dye pollutants: Process optimization using CCD‐RSM,equilibrium and kinetic studies

In this study, the CuS nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon (CuS‐NPs‐AC) composite was synthesized and then, characterized by XRD and FE‐SEM analyses. The prepared composite was used as a potential adsorbent for the simultaneous ultrasound‐assisted removal of Indigo Carmine (IC) and Safranin‐O (SO). The CuS‐NPs‐AC dose (0.01‐0.03 g), sonication time (1‐5 min), initial SO concentration (5‐15 mg L^‐1) and initial IC concentration (5‐15 mg L^‐1) as expectable effective parameters were studied by central composite design (CCD) under response surface methodology (RSM) to obtain an useful knowledge about the effect of simultaneous interaction between IC and SO on their removal percentage. The optimum SO and IC removal percentages were determined to be 98.24 and 97.15% at pH = 6, 0.03 g of the CuS‐NPs‐AC, 3 min sonication time, 12 and 10 mg L^‐1 of IC and SO. The values of coefficient of determination (R²) for SO and IC were 0.9608 and 0.9796, respectively, indicating the favorable fitness of the experimental data to the second order polynomial regression model. The isotherm data were well correlated with Freundlich model. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities of 87.5 and 69.90 mg g^‐1 at room temperature for IC and SO in the investigated binary system expressed the high efficiency of the novel adsorbent for water cleanup within a short time. The investigation of correlation between time and rate of adsorption revealed that IC and SO adsorption onto the CuS‐NPs‐AC followed pseudo‐second‐order and intra‐particle diffusion simultaneously.     

Simultaneous removal of Cu2+ and Cr3+ ions from aqueous solution based on Complexation with Eriochrome cyanine‐R and derivative spectrophotometric method

TiO₂ nanoparticles deposited on activated carbon (TiO₂–NP–AC) was prepared and characterized by XRD and SEM analysis. Subsequently, simultaneous ultrasound‐assisted adsorption of Cu²⁺ and Cr³⁺ ions onto TiO₂‐NPs‐AC after complexation via eriochrome cyanine R (ECR) has been investigated with UV–Vis and FAA spectrophotometer. Spectra overlapping of the ECR‐Cu and ECR‐Cr complex was resolve by derivative spectrophotometric technique. The effects of various parameters such as initial Cu²⁺ (A) and Cr³⁺ (B) ions concentrations, TiO₂‐NPs‐AC mass (C), sonication time (D) and pH (E) on the removal percentage were investigated and optimized by central composite design (CCD). The optimize conditions were set as: 4.21 min, 0.019 mg, 20.02 and 13.22 mg L^?1 and 6.63 for sonication time, TiO₂–NP–AC mass, initial Cr³⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions concentration and pH, respectively. The experimental equilibrium data fitting to Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich models show that the Langmuir model is a good and suitable model for evaluation and the actual behavior of adsorption process and maximum adsorption capacity of 105.26 and 93.46 mg g^?1 were obtained for Cu²⁺ and Cr³⁺ ions, respectively. Kinetic evaluation of experimental data showed that the adsorption processes followed well pseudo second order and intraparticle diffusion models.