Journal
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
Volume 353, Issue -, Pages 645-656Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA
DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2018.07.153
Keywords
g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction; Ibuprofen; Photocatalysis; Sewage effluent; Visible light irradiation; Z-scheme
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Funding
- Research Grants Council of Hong Kong [16206214]
- Innovation and Technology Commission [ITS/024/16]
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The inefficiency of conventional treatment technologies for the removal of ibuprofen has shifted the attention of water researchers towards TiO2-based photocatalysis due to its various advantages. However, the disadvantages limit practical applicability: (a) ability to exploit UV light (2-3% of the solar spectrum) only, (b) high recombination rates of photogenerated e(-) and h(+), and (c) difficulty in separation after use. To overcome these challenges, a highly photoactive magnetically recyclable direct contact Z-scheme g-C3N4/TiO2/Fe3O4@SiO2 (gCTFS) heterojunction nanophotocatalyst was synthesized via a sol-gel route, using only a small amount of ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets (0.00021:1 wt ratio of ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets to the TiO2 precursor). The synthesized nanophotocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer, fluorescence spectrophotometer, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Zeta potential. The nanophotocatalyst was able to remove 97% of ibuprofen after 15 min of similar to 330Wm(-2) integrated irradiance of visible light. The superparamagnetic behavior of the nanophotocatalyst with saturation magnetization of 8 emu g(-1) enabled its successful magnetic recovery from the solution after use for further application. Furthermore, reusability studies of the nanophotocatalyst over three cycles, ibuprofen removal studies at various pH (3, 5, 7, 9, and 11) and in the presence of various anions (Cl-, NO3-, PO43-, and SO42-), and mineralization capability for ibuprofen removal under visible light irradiation were also investigated. Overall, the recyclable direct contact Z-scheme gCTFS nanophotocatalyst was also found to be applicable under ibuprofen-spiked real sewage effluent thereby proving its practical applicability for environmental applications.
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