Innovative Low-Cost Carbon/ZnO Hybrid Materials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity towards Organic Pollutant Dyes’ Removal
A new type of material based on carbon/ZnO nanostructures that possesses both adsorption and photocatalytic properties was obtained in three stages: cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) microfiber mats prepared by the electrospinning method, ZnO nanostructures growth by dipping and hydrothermal methods,...
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doaj-eb88dd199ebc4216ab5404551d1bec642020-11-25T03:27:37ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912020-09-01101873187310.3390/nano10091873Innovative Low-Cost Carbon/ZnO Hybrid Materials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity towards Organic Pollutant Dyes’ RemovalPetronela Pascariu0Niculae Olaru1Aurelian Rotaru2Anton Airinei3“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, RomaniaFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science & MANSiD Research Center, Stefan cel Mare University, 13 Str. Universitatii, 720229 Suceava, Romania“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, RomaniaA new type of material based on carbon/ZnO nanostructures that possesses both adsorption and photocatalytic properties was obtained in three stages: cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) microfiber mats prepared by the electrospinning method, ZnO nanostructures growth by dipping and hydrothermal methods, and finally thermal calcination at 600 °C in N<sub>2</sub> for 30 min. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the structural characteristics. It was found that ZnO possesses a hexagonal wurtzite crystalline structure. The ZnO nanocrystals with star-like and nanorod shapes were evidenced by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. A significant decrease in <i>E</i><sub>g</sub> value was found for carbon/ZnO hybrid materials (2.51 eV) as compared to ZnO nanostructures (3.21 eV). The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by studying the degradation of three dyes, Methylene Blue (MB), Rhodamine B (RhB) and Congo Red (CR) under visible-light irradiation. Therefore, the maximum color removal efficiency (both adsorption and photocatalytic processes) was: 97.97% of MB (<i>C</i><sub>0</sub> = 10 mg/L), 98.34% of RhB (<i>C</i><sub>0</sub> = 5 mg/L), and 91.93% of CR (<i>C</i><sub>0</sub> = 10 mg/L). Moreover, the value of the rate constant (<i>k</i>) was found to be 0.29 × 10<sup>−2</sup> min<sup>−1</sup>. The novelty of this study relies on obtaining new photocatalysts based on carbon/ZnO using cheap and accessible raw materials, and low-cost preparation techniques.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/9/1873carbon/ZnO nanostructureselectrospinningphotocatalystphotocatalytic activity |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Petronela Pascariu Niculae Olaru Aurelian Rotaru Anton Airinei |
spellingShingle |
Petronela Pascariu Niculae Olaru Aurelian Rotaru Anton Airinei Innovative Low-Cost Carbon/ZnO Hybrid Materials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity towards Organic Pollutant Dyes’ Removal Nanomaterials carbon/ZnO nanostructures electrospinning photocatalyst photocatalytic activity |
author_facet |
Petronela Pascariu Niculae Olaru Aurelian Rotaru Anton Airinei |
author_sort |
Petronela Pascariu |
title |
Innovative Low-Cost Carbon/ZnO Hybrid Materials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity towards Organic Pollutant Dyes’ Removal |
title_short |
Innovative Low-Cost Carbon/ZnO Hybrid Materials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity towards Organic Pollutant Dyes’ Removal |
title_full |
Innovative Low-Cost Carbon/ZnO Hybrid Materials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity towards Organic Pollutant Dyes’ Removal |
title_fullStr |
Innovative Low-Cost Carbon/ZnO Hybrid Materials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity towards Organic Pollutant Dyes’ Removal |
title_full_unstemmed |
Innovative Low-Cost Carbon/ZnO Hybrid Materials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity towards Organic Pollutant Dyes’ Removal |
title_sort |
innovative low-cost carbon/zno hybrid materials with enhanced photocatalytic activity towards organic pollutant dyes’ removal |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Nanomaterials |
issn |
2079-4991 |
publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
description |
A new type of material based on carbon/ZnO nanostructures that possesses both adsorption and photocatalytic properties was obtained in three stages: cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) microfiber mats prepared by the electrospinning method, ZnO nanostructures growth by dipping and hydrothermal methods, and finally thermal calcination at 600 °C in N<sub>2</sub> for 30 min. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the structural characteristics. It was found that ZnO possesses a hexagonal wurtzite crystalline structure. The ZnO nanocrystals with star-like and nanorod shapes were evidenced by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. A significant decrease in <i>E</i><sub>g</sub> value was found for carbon/ZnO hybrid materials (2.51 eV) as compared to ZnO nanostructures (3.21 eV). The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by studying the degradation of three dyes, Methylene Blue (MB), Rhodamine B (RhB) and Congo Red (CR) under visible-light irradiation. Therefore, the maximum color removal efficiency (both adsorption and photocatalytic processes) was: 97.97% of MB (<i>C</i><sub>0</sub> = 10 mg/L), 98.34% of RhB (<i>C</i><sub>0</sub> = 5 mg/L), and 91.93% of CR (<i>C</i><sub>0</sub> = 10 mg/L). Moreover, the value of the rate constant (<i>k</i>) was found to be 0.29 × 10<sup>−2</sup> min<sup>−1</sup>. The novelty of this study relies on obtaining new photocatalysts based on carbon/ZnO using cheap and accessible raw materials, and low-cost preparation techniques. |
topic |
carbon/ZnO nanostructures electrospinning photocatalyst photocatalytic activity |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/9/1873 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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