A review on degradation of organic dyes by using metal oxide semiconductors

Recent trends and advancement in metal oxide nanoparticles for the degradation of dyes: synthesis, mechanism, types and its application

Synthetic dyes play a crucial role in our daily lives, especially in clothing, leather accessories, and furniture manufacturing. Unfortunately, these potentially carcinogenic substances are significantly impacting our water systems due to their widespread use. Dyes from various sources pose a serious environmental threat owing to their persistence and toxicity. Regulations underscore the urgency in addressing this problem. In response to this challenge, metal oxide nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and iron oxide (Fe3O4) have emerged as intriguing options for dye degradation due to their unique characteristics and production methods. This paper aims to explore the types of nanoparticles suitable for dye degradation, various synthesis methods, and the properties of nanoparticles. The study elaborates on the photocatalytic and adsorption-desorption activities of metal oxide nanoparticles, elucidating their role in dye degradation and their application potential. Factors influencing degradation, including nanoparticle properties and environmental conditions, are discussed. Furthermore, the paper provides relevant case studies, practical applications in water treatment, and effluent treatment specifically in the textile sector. Challenges such as agglomeration, toxicity concerns, and cost-effectiveness are acknowledged. Future advancements in nanomaterial synthesis, their integration with other materials, and their impact on environmental regulations are potential areas for development. In conclusion, metal oxide nanoparticles possess immense potential in reducing dye pollution, and further research and development are essential to define their role in long-term environmental management.

Green route to fabrication of Semal-ZnO nanoparticles for efficient solar-driven catalysis of noxious dyes in diverse aquatic environments

This work successfully demonstrates a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach for synthesizing Semal-ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) using the aqueous leaf extract of Bombax ceiba L. These NPs exhibit an absorption peak at approximately 390 nm in the UV-visible spectrum and an energy gap (Eg) of 3.11 eV. Detailed analyses of the morphology and particle size using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, XRD, FE-SEM with EDS, and HR-TEM reveal crystallographic peaks attributable to the hexagonal phase, with an average crystal size of 17 nm. The Semal-ZnO NPs also exhibit a notable photocatalytic efficiency for degrading methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) under sunlight in different water samples collected from diverse natural sources, indicating that they are promising photocatalysts for environmental remediation. The photocatalytic efficiency of the biofabricated Semal-ZnO NPs is impressive, exhibiting a photodegradation rate of up to 99% for MB and 79% for MO in different water samples under exposure to sunlight. The novel phytofabricated Semal-ZnO NPs are thus a beacon of hope for the environment, with their desirable photocatalytic efficiency, pseudo-first-order kinetics, and ability to break down noxious dye pollutants in various aquatic environments.

Recent progress in defect-engineered metal oxides for photocatalytic environmental remediation

Rapid industrial advancement over the last few decades has led to an alarming increase in pollution levels in the ecosystem. Among the primary pollutants, harmful organic dyes and pharmaceutical drugs are directly released by industries into the water bodies which serves as a major cause of environmental deterioration. This warns of a severe need to find some sustainable strategies to overcome these increasing levels of water pollution and eliminate the pollutants before being exposed to the environment. Photocatalysis is a well-established strategy in the field of pollutant degradation and various metal oxides have been proven to exhibit excellent physicochemical properties which makes them a potential candidate for environmental remediation. Further, with the aim of rapid industrialization of photocatalytic pollutant degradation technology, constant efforts have been made to increase the photocatalytic activity of various metal oxides. One such strategy is the introduction of defects into the lattice of the parent catalyst through doping or vacancy which plays a major role in enhancing the catalytic activity and achieving excellent degradation rates. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of defects and their role in altering the photocatalytic activity of the material. Various defect-rich metal oxides like binary oxides, perovskite oxides, and spinel oxides have been summarized for their application in pollutant degradation. Finally, a summary of existing research, followed by the existing challenges along with the potential countermeasures has been provided to pave a path for the future studies and industrialization of this promising field.

Photocatalytic degradation of drugs and dyes using a maching learning approach

The waste management industry uses an increasing number of mathematical prediction models to accurately forecast the behavior of organic pollutants during catalytic degradation. With the increasing quantity of waste generated, these models are critical for reinforcing the efficiency of wastewater treatment strategies. The application of machine-learning techniques in recent years has notably improved predictive models for waste management, which are essential for mitigating the impact of toxic commercial waste on global water supply. Organic contaminants, dyes, pesticides, surfactants, petroleum by-products, and prescription drugs pose risks to human health. Because traditional techniques face challenges in ensuring water quality, modern strategies are vital. Machine learning has emerged as a valuable tool for predicting the photocatalytic degradation of medicinal drugs and dyes, providing a promising avenue for addressing urgent demands in removing organic pollutants from wastewater. This research investigates the synergistic application of photocatalysis and machine learning for pollutant degradation, showcasing a sustainable solution with promising effects on environmental remediation and computational efficiency. This study contributes to green chemistry by providing a clever framework for addressing present-day water pollution challenges and achieving era-driven answers.

Graphene oxide as an emerging sole adsorbent and photocatalyst: Chemistry of synthesis and tailoring properties for removal of emerging contaminants

Contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) contain a wide range of compounds, such as pharmaceutical waste, pesticides, herbicides, industrial chemicals, organic dyes, etc. Their presence in the surrounding has extensive and multifaceted effects on human health as they have the potential to persist in the environment, accumulate in biota, and disrupt ecosystems. In this regard, various remediation methods involving different kind of functional nanomaterials with unique properties have been developed. The functional nanomaterials can provide several mechanisms for water pollutant removal, such as adsorption, catalysis, and disinfection, in a single platform. Graphene oxide (GO) is a two-dimensional carbon-based material that has an extremely large surface area and a large number of active sites. Recent advances in synthesising GO have shown great progress in tailoring its various physiochemical, optical, surface, structural properties etc., making it better adsorbent and photocatalysts. In this review, sole adsorbent and standalone photocatalytic performances of GO for the removal of CEC have been discussed in light of tailoring its adsorption and photocatalytic properties through novel synthesis routes and optimizing synthesis parameters. This review also examines various models describing the structure of GO and its surface/structural modifications for improved adsorption and photocatalytic properties. The article provides valuable information for the production of efficient and cost-effective GO-based sole adsorbents and photocatalysts as compared to the traditional materials. Furthermore, future prospective and challenges for sole GO nanostructures to compete with traditional adsorbents and photocatalysts have been discussed providing interesting avenues for future research.

S-scheme heterojunctions based on novel Sm2CeMnO6 double perovskite oxide and g-C3N4 with excellent photocatalytic dye degradation performances

It has become of utmost importance to preserve marine life and human health by protecting aquatic environments from contaminants. Therefore, using photocatalytic materials in treatment of contaminated water is a promising and innovative technique. Novel double perovskite Sm2CeMnO6 was synthesized through a modified Pechini sol-gel method. Also, urea and melamine were utilized to synthesize graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4). Combination of Sm2CeMnO6 and g-C3N4 produced several S-scheme heterojunction materials in diverse components ratios. Average crystallite sizes of Sm2CeMnO6 and Sm2CeMnO6/g-C3N4 (20:80) samples were calculated by Debye-Scherrer and Williamson-Hall methods to be 19.77, 22.72 nm and 42.01, 43.73 nm, respectively. The coexistence of g-C3N4 (002) with a d-spacing of 0.325 nm and Sm2CeMnO6 planes of (222), (111), and (400) with spacing values of 0.314, 0.302, and 0.294 nm, respectively, was depicted in the HR-TEM image of the Sm2CeMnO6/g-C3N4 (20:80). The estimated bandgaps for the g-C3N4, Sm2CeMnO6, and Sm2CeMnO6/g-C3N4 (20:80) were 2.70, 2.60, and 2.65 eV, respectively. Their application was investigated in photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye as typical pollutant. The estimated degradation pathway of MB was also provided through LC-MS analysis. Under the identical conditions, the best photocatalytic performance was found for Sm2CeMnO6/g-C3N4 (20:80) composite. Using response surface methodology (RSM), operational parameters of the photocatalytic degradation were modeled and optimized by the best composite through central composite design approach. Applying optimized parameters led to 96% degradation of MB (8 mg/L) at pH 10 under 120 min visible light irradiation (λ > 365 nm) using 0.15 g of Sm2CeMnO6/g-C3N4 (20:80) composite in 100 mL aqueous solution. Due to low intrinsic charge transfer resistance, modified Eg, and good performance in e‒/h+ pairs production, Sm2CeMnO6/g-C3N4 (20:80) nanocomposite was introduced as a promising S-scheme photocatalyst.

Experimental and computational study of metal oxide nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants: a review

Photocatalysis is a more proficient technique that involves the breakdown or decomposition of different organic contaminants, various dyes, and harmful viruses and fungi using UV or visible light solar spectrum. Metal oxides are considered promising candidate photocatalysts owing to their low cost, efficiency, simple fabricating method, sufficient availability, and environment-friendliness for photocatalytic applications. Among metal oxides, TiO2 is the most studied photocatalyst and is highly applied in wastewater treatment and hydrogen production. However, TiO2 is relatively active only under ultraviolet light due to its wide bandgap, which limits its applicability because the production of ultraviolet is expensive. At present, the discovery of a photocatalyst of suitable bandgap with visible light or modification of the existing photocatalyst is becoming very attractive for photocatalysis technology. However, the major drawbacks of photocatalysts are the high recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, the ultraviolet light activity limitations, and low surface coverage. In this review, the most commonly used synthesis method for metal oxide nanoparticles, photocatalytic applications of metal oxides, and applications and toxicity of different dyes are comprehensively highlighted. In addition, the challenges in the photocatalytic applications of metal oxides, strategies to suppress these challenges, and metal oxide studied by density functional theory for photocatalytic applications are described in detail.

GO-CuO nanocomposites assimilated into CA-PES polymer membrane in adsorptive removal of organic dyes from wastewater

Textile industries are one of the leading environmental pollutants by releasing harmful dye effluents. In many textile distrts, the amount of excess color in treated textile effluent that exceeds regulatory limitations is still being a major concern. The combining usage of nanomaterials and polymer material to solve these issues using various techniques. In this research, graphene oxide-copper oxide (GO-CuO) nanomaterial have been incorporated into cellulose-acetate (CA), poly-ether sulfone (PES) blend polymer by using phase inversion process to fabricate thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane for removal of dye pollutant. The physiochemical properties of prepared TFN materials were studied by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), and mechanical strength analysis. Dye adsorption experiments were performed with four typical water-soluble organic dyes methylene blue (MB), rhodamine blue (Rh. B), methyl orange (MO) and Congo red (CR). After reaching adsorption equilibrium, the composite membrane final removal effectiveness for MB 92.42%, Rh. B 89.39%, CR 68.39%, and MO 58.82% respectively. As a result, the fabricated TFN material proves to be an effective adsorbent material for cationic dye molecules. Also, when the fabricated material was tested with textile industry effluent sample, all physio-chemical properties exhibited a considerable decrease in concentrations when compared to the real textile effluent concentration. The treated effluents permitted for a relatively greater growth and germination index of Tropical amaranth roots than the textile effluent, this demonstrates that phytotoxicity testing was also successful. The most effective temperature, concentration and pH were found to be 273 K, 1 × 10^-5 M and pH 9. The fabricated TFN membrane material (GO-CuO @ CA-PES) can be recommended for water treatment applications.

Advances in Hybrid Composites for Photocatalytic Applications: A Review

Heterogeneous photocatalysts have garnered extensive attention as a sustainable way for environmental remediation and energy storage process. Water splitting, solar energy conversion, and pollutant degradation are examples of nowadays applications where semiconductor-based photocatalysts represent a potentially disruptive technology. The exploitation of solar radiation for photocatalysis could generate a strong impact by decreasing the energy demand and simultaneously mitigating the impact of anthropogenic pollutants. However, most of the actual photocatalysts work only on energy radiation in the Near-UV region (<400 nm), and the studies and development of new photocatalysts with high efficiency in the visible range of the spectrum are required. In this regard, hybrid organic/inorganic photocatalysts have emerged as highly potential materials to drastically improve visible photocatalytic efficiency. In this review, we will analyze the state-of-art and the developments of hybrid photocatalysts for energy storage and energy conversion process as well as their application in pollutant degradation and water treatments.

Nanomaterials photocatalytic activities for waste water treatment: a review

Water is necessary for the survival of life on Earth. A wide range of pollutants has contaminated water resources in the last few decades. The presence of contaminants incredibly different dyes in waste, potable, and surface water is hazardous to environmental and human health. Different types of dyes are the principal contaminants in water that need sudden attention because of their widespread domestic and industrial use. The toxic effects of these dyes and their ability to resist traditional water treatment procedures have inspired the researcher to develop an eco-friendly method that could effectively and efficiently degrade these toxic contaminants. Here, in this review, we explored the effective and economical methods of metal-based nanomaterials photocatalytic degradation for successfully removing dyes from wastewater. This study provides a tool for protecting the environment and human health. In addition, the insights into the transformation of solar energy for photocatalytic reduction of toxic metal ions and photocatalytic degradation of dyes contaminated wastewater will open a gate for water treatment research. The mechanism of photocatalytic degradation and the parameters that affect the photocatalytic activities of various photocatalysts have also been reported.