Rapid Degradation of Rhodamine B through Visible-Photocatalytic Advanced Oxidation Using Self-Degradable Natural Perylene Quinone Derivatives-Hypocrellins

Hypocrellins (HYPs) are natural perylene quinone derivatives from Ascomycota fungi. Based on the excellent photosensitization properties of HYPs, this work proposed a photocatalytic advanced oxidation process (PAOP) that uses HYPs to degrade rhodamine B (RhB) as a model organic pollutant. A synergistic activity of HYPs and H2O2 (0.18 mM of HYPs, 0.33% w/v of H2O2) was suggested, resulting in a yield of 82.4% for RhB degradation after 60 min under visible light irradiation at 470-475 nm. The principle of pseudo-first-order kinetics was used to describe the decomposition reaction with a calculated constant (k) of 0.02899 min(-1) (R-2 = 0.983). Light-induced self-degradation of HYPs could be activated under alkaline (pH > 7) conditions, promising HYPs as an advanced property to alleviate the current dilemma of secondary pollution by synthetic photocatalysts in the remediation of emerging organic pollutants.

Automated summary

This study proposed a photocatalytic advanced oxidation process (PAOP) using hypocrellins (HYPs) to degrade rhodamine B (RhB) as a model organic pollutant. The results showed that HYPs and H2O2 had a synergistic effect on the degradation of RhB under visible light irradiation. The self-degradation of HYPs could be activated under alkaline conditions, which makes HYPs a promising material in the remediation of emerging organic pollutants while alleviating the secondary pollution caused by synthetic photocatalysts.