Highly robust AglO3/MIL-53 (Fe) nanohybrid composites for degradation of organophosphorus pesticides in single and binary systems: Application of artificial neural networks modelling

A robust sunlight-driven AglO(3)/MIL-53 (Fe) nanohybrid composite (NC) was successfully synthesised and characterised. The efficacy of the NC was estimated by decomposing two organophosphates pesticides (methyl malathion (MP) and chlorpyrifos (CP)) under sunlight irradiation. The degradation of MP and CP was strongly influenced by pH, catalyst dose and initial pesticide concentration. Under 60 min solar light illumination, similar to 78-90% CP and MP were degraded individually in tap and distilled water, respectively. In binary mixture (MP-F CP), similar to 70% mineralisation was achieved within 180 min. The efficiency of NC is attributed to the prolonged separation of photogenerated carriers, a large concentration of surface hydroxyl groups and high specific surface area. Under artificial neural network (ANN) predicted conditions, 0.5 g NC, pH 5 and 2.5 mL of 50 mg/L Na2S2O8 are required for complete mineralisation of the pesticides. (C) 2017 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.