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Zhou R, Zhang T, Zhou R, Mai-Prochnow A, Ponraj SB, Fang Z, Masood H, Kananagh J, McClure D, Alam D, Ostrikov KK, Cullen PJ. Underwater microplasma bubbles for efficient and simultaneous degradation of mixed dye pollutants. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 750:142295. [PMID: 33182177 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Revised: 09/04/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Complete degradation of mixtures of organic pollutants is a major challenge due to their diverse degradation pathways. In this work, a novel microplasma bubble (MPB) reactor was developed to generate plasma discharges inside small forming bubbles as an effective mean of delivering reactive species for the degradation of the target organic contaminants. The results show that the integration of plasma and bubbles resulted in efficient degradation for all azo, heterocyclic, and cationic dyes, evidenced by the outstanding energy efficiency of 13.0, 18.1 and 22.1 g/kWh with 3 min of processing, in degrading alizarin yellow (AY), orange II (Orng-II) and methylene blue (MB), individually. The MPB treatment also effectively and simultaneously degraded the dyes in their mixtures such as AY + Orng-II, AY + MB and AY + Orng-II + MB. Scavenger assays revealed that the short-lived reactive species, including the hydroxyl (OH) and superoxide anion (O2-) radicals, played the dominant role in the degradation of the pollutants. Possible degradation pathways were proposed based on the intermediate products detected during the degradation process. The feasibility of this proposed strategy was further evaluated using other common water pollutants. Reduced toxicity was confirmed by the observed increases in human cell viability for the treated water. This work could support the future development of high performance- and energy-efficient wastewater abatement technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renwu Zhou
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Tianqi Zhang
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Rusen Zhou
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; School of Chemistry and Physics, Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia.
| | - Anne Mai-Prochnow
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Sri Balaji Ponraj
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Zhi Fang
- College of Electrical Engineering and Control Science, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, Jiangsu, China
| | - Hassan Masood
- Particle and Catalysis Research Group, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - John Kananagh
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Dale McClure
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - David Alam
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Kostya Ken Ostrikov
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Patrick J Cullen
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Su Z, Li J, Zhang D, Ye P, Li H, Yan Y. Novel flexible Fenton-like catalyst: Unique CuO nanowires arrays on copper mesh with high efficiency across a wide pH range. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 647:587-596. [PMID: 30092514 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Revised: 08/02/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Free-standing and flexible Cu@CuO nanowires (NWs) mesh as an easily recycled Fenton-like catalyst is developed for the first time. Dense CuO nanowire arrays were uniformly grown on a copper mesh surface simply by wet etching accompanied with thermal dehydration. These dense CuO NWs provide a large specific area and therefore guarantee excellent catalytic performance toward the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB). With a k-value of 0.23 min-1, such a Cu@CuO NWs mesh is able to degrade 100% RhB in only 16 min. This Fenton-like catalyst is also appropriate for degrading other organic dyes, including crystal violet, methylene blue, and rhodamine 6G. Unlike the conventional Fenton catalyst implemented at a pH value around 3, the Cu@CuO NWs mesh could adapt to a wide pH range from 2.1 to 12.0. More intriguingly, the Cu@CuO NWs mesh with excellent flexibility could be easily recycled after catalysis, which is a significant advance compared to the previously reported Fenton catalysts in the form of powders or nanoparticles. In addition, the recycling performance of this Cu@CuO NWs mesh was also assessed. On the basis of electron spin resonance (ESR) results, O2- rather than OH is the main active species for the dye degradation by the Cu@CuO NWs mesh. With a marvelous combination of excellent flexibility, wide pH adaptation, and high efficiency, this easily recycled three dimensional Cu@CuO NWs architecture can afford new ideas for the Fenton chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Su
- State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China
| | - Jing Li
- State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China
| | - Dandan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China
| | - Pin Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China
| | - Heping Li
- State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China.
| | - Youwei Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China
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Sacco O, Matarangolo M, Vaiano V, Libralato G, Guida M, Lofrano G, Carotenuto M. Crystal violet and toxicity removal by adsorption and simultaneous photocatalysis in a continuous flow micro-reactor. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 644:430-438. [PMID: 29981993 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2018] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 06/29/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
A continuous flow micro-reactor irradiated by UV-LEDs was employed to treat coloured wastewater by adsorption and simultaneous photocatalysis. Zinc oxide (ZnO) immobilized on commercial zeolites pellets in spherical shape (ZEO) was used as catalytic material in a micro-reactor maximizing the photocatalyst exposition to light sources, irradiating uniformly the entire solution volume and improving the mass transfer phenomena. Experimental tests were carried out on crystal violet dye (CV) as one of the main dying agent present in textile wastewater. The comparison between adsorption and adsorption/photocatalytic tests showed that UV irradiation can achieve a steady state CV concentration value corresponding to an equilibrium condition between adsorption and photocatalytic oxidation. The higher removal efficiency (i.e. 93%) was observed with a liquid flow rate of 1.1 mL/min (contact time = 4.7 min; CV = 10 mg/L) under UV light irradiation. In the steady state, CV removal remained constant for the overall testing time. Bioassays evidenced that toxicity was not completely removed (i.e. final effluent ranked as "slight acute toxic") from wastewater suggesting its suitability for sewage collection discharge. A Dubinin Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm model was applied for studying the adsorption behaviour of ZnO/ZEO sample. CV adsorption constants were evaluated from experimental data carried out in dark conditions in a batch system. Kinetic expression of CV removal and the D-R adsorption were incorporated in the CV mass balance estimating the kinetic parameter. The model was validated comparing the calculated CV conversion with the experimental tests collected at different CV inlet concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Sacco
- Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy
| | - Mariantonietta Matarangolo
- Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Vaiano
- Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy.
| | - Giovanni Libralato
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, via Cinthia ed. 7, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Marco Guida
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, via Cinthia ed. 7, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Giusy Lofrano
- Department of Chemical and Biology, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy
| | - Maurizio Carotenuto
- Department of Chemical and Biology, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy
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