Efficient detoxication of heterocyclics by layered double hydroxides contained different cobalt components as photocatalysts based on controllable application of active free radicals

Effective activation of peroxymonosulfate by CoCr-LDH for removing organic contaminants in water: from lab-scale to practical applications

In this study, CoCr layered double hydroxide material (CoCr-LDH) was prepared and used as an effective catalyst for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to degrade organics in water. The prepared CoCr-LDH material had a crystalline structure and relatively porous structure, as determined by various surface analyses. In Rhodamine B (RhB) removal, the most outstanding PMS activation ability belongs to the material with a Co:Cr molar ratio of 2:1. The removal of RhB follows pseudo-first-order kinetics (R2 > 0.99) with an activation energy of 38.23 kJ/mol and efficiency of 98% after 7 min of treatment, and the total organic carbon of the solution reduced 47.2% after 10 min. The activation and oxidation mechanisms were proposed and the RhB degradation pathways were suggested with the key contribution of O2•- and 1O2. Notably, CoCr-LDH can activate PMS over a wide pH range of 4 - 9, and apply to a wide range of organic pollutants and aqueous environments. The material has high stability and good recovery, which can be reused for 5 cycles with a stable efficiency of above 88%, suggesting a high potential for practical recalcitrant water treatment via PMS activation by heterogeneous catalysts.

Study on the dominant mechanism of direct hole oxidation for the photodegradation of tetracycline

Antibiotic contamination has a significant negative impact on China, one of the largest producers and consumers of antibiotics worldwide. In this study, a three-dimensional flower-like structure of CoFe-LDHs was used to efficiently degrade tetracycline (TC) in a system triggered by peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and exposed to visible light. After exploring the effects of different metal ratios, catalyst dosage, initial TC concentrations, and pH, the optimal reaction conditions were determined. In comparison to pure CoFe-LDHs, the TC elimination rate was dramatically increased by the addition of the PMS. The strong environmental resistance, excellent stability and reusability, and universal flexibility were shown. The quenching experiments and electron spin resonance detection showed that the creation of reactive oxygen species was facilitated by the synergistic transmission of electrons between the active bimetallic components. Further, photogenerated holes was the dominant oxidizing species, which contributed more to the degradation of TC. The potential degradation pathways and intermediate toxicity of TC were suggested. This work offers a new method dominated by photogenerated holes for efficiently removing TC effluent.

Zr, La-dual doped silver niobate for photocatalytic degradation of dyes under visible light irradiation

Sol-gel-assisted synthesis of silver niobate, 1%, 5%, and 10% Zr, La-dual doped silver niobates were carried out. Analysis done using XRD showed that increasing Zr and La dual doping caused the synthesized materials to adopt an AgNbO₃-like structure. This is also supported by FT-IR results. FESEM revealed that the silver niobate has a prism-like morphology while Zr, La-dual doped samples are irregular in shape. EDX mapping of the 10% Zr, La dual silver niobate confirmed the presence of Nb, Ag, Zr, and La metals. When compared with the silver niobate, the band gap energy of Zr, La-dual doped silver niobates are narrower, as shown by UV-Vis DRS measurements. It was revealed that dual doping of silver niobates with Zr and La has significantly improved the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes. The 1% Zr, La-dual doped silver niobate showed the best photocatalytic results in terms of degrading MB while 10% Zr, La-dual doped silver niobate achieved the best performance when degrading RhB.

Recent Advances in Layered Double Hydroxide-Based Electrochemical and Optical Sensors

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have attracted considerable attention as promising materials for electrochemical and optical sensors owing to their excellent catalytic properties, facile synthesis strategies, highly tunable morphology, and versatile hosting ability. LDH-based electrochemical sensors are affordable alternatives to traditional precious-metal-based sensors, as LDHs can be synthesized from abundant inorganic precursors. LDH-modified probes can directly catalyze or host catalytic compounds that facilitate analyte redox reactions, detected as changes in the probe's current, voltage, or resistance. The porous and lamellar structure of LDHs allows rapid analyte diffusion and abundant active sites for enhanced sensor sensitivity. LDHs can be composed of conductive materials such as reduced graphene oxide (rGO) or metal nanoparticles for improved catalytic activity and analyte selectivity. As optical sensors, LDHs provide a spacious, stable structure for synergistic guest-host interactions. LDHs can immobilize fluorophores, chemiluminescence reactants, and other spectroscopically active materials to reduce the aggregation and dissolution of the embedded sensor molecules, yielding enhanced optical responses and increased probe reusability. This review discusses standard LDH synthesis methods and overviews the different electrochemical and optical analysis techniques. Furthermore, the designs and modifications of exemplary LDHs and LDH composite materials are analyzed, focusing on the analytical performance of LDH-based sensors for key biomarkers and pollutants, including glucose, dopamine (DA), H2O2, metal ions, nitrogen-based toxins, and other organic compounds.

Tuning the structural properties of cadmium-aluminum layered double hydroxide for enhanced photocatalytic dye degradation

The distinctive layered structure, chemical stability and tunability of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have led to extensive investigations in various areas of photocatalysis, including photocatalytic water splitting, carbon dioxide photoreduction, and degradation of organic pollutants. Here, a series of visible light active cadmium-aluminum layered double hydroxides (CdAl LDHs) with various Cd2+ : Al3+ ratios is synthesized via the reaction-diffusion framework (RDF) leading thereby to a hierarchal spherical structure of the LDH. The aim of this study is to develop an optimal CdAl LDH photocatalyst that is activated by solar light irradiation and tested for methylene blue (MB) degradation. The structural and physicochemical properties of the synthesized materials are determined by several imaging and spectroscopic techniques. The photocatalytic study reveals a strong dependence of the photocatalytic activity of the CdAl LDH on the cationic ratio with an optimal performance at a ratio Cd2+ : Al3+ equal to 3 : 1. A mechanism is proposed whereby the activity is ascribed to the formation of intermediate reactive oxidative species (ROS) during the photodegradation reactions and scrutinised by invoking different ROS quenchers and corroborated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Promoting the photogeneration of hydrochar reactive oxygen species based on FeAl layered double hydroxide for diethyl phthalate degradation

Improving the photocatalytic capacity of hydrochar to apply in wastewater treatment is of great significance. In this study, a novel heterogeneous photocatalytic material was prepared by compounding hydrochar with FeAl layered double hydroxide (FeAl-LDH). Furthermore, hydrochar was separated into hydrochar carbon matrix (HCM) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) to analyse their contribution in the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The characterization and photocatalytic property of three composites (hydrochar-LDH, HCM-LDH and DOM-LDH) were investigated. The results showed that three composites were successfully synthesized with the formation of nano-sized LDH, graphitic carbon and oxygen vacancies. Persistent free radicals (PFRs) existed in hydrochar and the amount of them increased distinctly with the presence of FeAl-LDH. The degradation efficiency of DEP by hydrochar-LDH, HCM-LDH and DOM-LDH was 5.0, 4.2 and 1.5 times than that of hydrochar within 180 min, respectively. The reasons were proposed as: (i) Both HCM-LDH and DOM-LDH could induce the formation of OH, O₂^- and ¹O₂, while HCM-LDH was the main contributor to generate O₂^- and OH; (ii) HCM-LDH possessed many oxygenated functional groups, which were key factors affecting the formation of ROS; (iii) Fe could enhance the electron transfer process during the photoreaction, promoting the formation of ROS.

Photodegradation of volatile organic compounds catalyzed by MCr-LDHs and hybrid MO@MCr-LDHs (M = Co, Ni, Cu, Zn): the comparison of activity, kinetics and photocatalytic mechanism

The efficient removal of high-concentration volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been a challenging task.