Room Temperature Synthesis of Bismuth Oxyiodide with Different Morphologies for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Norfloxacin

In this study, both BiOI spheres and BiOI plates were synthesized successfully at room temperature and applied for the photocatalytic degradation of norfloxacin using indoor fluorescent light illumination. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis absorption spectrum, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). Although both BiOI spheres and BiOI plates displayed approximately similar absorption band edge, higher photocatalytic degradation was noticed in the case of BiOI spheres as compared with BiOI plates. This was attributed to the unique features of BiOI spheres, such as enlarged specific surface area and enhanced adsorption capacity. The study demonstrated that morphology has a key role in improving the degradation efficiency of a photocatalyst

Room-Temperature Synthesis Of Bismuth Oxybromide-Based Photocatalysts For The Removal Of Ciprofloxacin From Aqueous Solution Under Visible Light

Semiconductor photocatalysis using visible-light-driven photocatalysts is gaining more attention, due to its wide applications in energy conversion and environmental remediation. Recently, a ternary V-VI-VII semiconductor, bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) has received extensive attention in photocatalysis due to its low cost, non-toxicity, and other unique properties. However, BiOBr alone exhibits low photodegradation efficiency, due to low visible light absorption and recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. Furthermore, for practical and large-scale application, the separation of powdered BiOBr is inconvenient. The primary aims of this work are to synthesize BiOBr-based photocatalysts at room-temperature, using facile, low cost and environmentally friendly methods, to enhance the photodegradation activity of BiOBr, as well as to ease the separation of the photocatalyst from the aqueous system. To achieve these goals, two strategies were employed. First, the pristine BiOBr was used as a host material to produce photocatalyst composites. Using this method, three BiOBr-based composites namely Bi/BiOBr, BiOBr/Bi2O3 and BiOBr/Bi2S3 were prepared. Second, the pristine BiOBr was immobilized onto cellulose acetate (CA), forming BiOBr/cellulose acetate (BCA) composite films. The structural and physicochemical properties of both powdered and immobilized BiOBr-composites were characterized using various techniques

Fenton Degradation of Ofloxacin Using a Montmorillonite–Fe₃O₄ Composite

In this work, FeM composites consisting of montmorillonite and variable amounts of Fe3O4 were successfully synthesized via a facile co-precipitation process. They were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption–desorption, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques to explain the effect of Fe3O4 content on the physicochemical properties of the Fe3O4–montmorillonite (FeM) composites. The FeM composites were subsequently used as heterogeneous Fenton catalysts to activate green oxidant (H2O2) for the subsequent degradation of ofloxacin (OFL) antibiotic. The efficiency of the FeM composites was studied by varying various parameters of Fe3O4 loading on montmorillonite, catalyst dosage, initial solution pH, initial OFL concentration, different oxidants, H2O2 dosage, reaction temperature, inorganic salts, and solar irradiation. Under the conditions of 0.75 g/L FeM-10, 5 mL/L H2O2, and natural pH, almost 81% of 50 mg/L of OFL was degraded within 120 min in the dark, while total organic carbon (TOC) reduction was about 56%. Although FeM composites could be a promising heterogeneous catalyst for the activation of H2O2 to degrade organic pollutants, including OFL antibiotic, the FeM-10 composite shows a significant drop in efficiency after five cycles, which indicates that more studies to improve this weakness should be conducted

Fenton Degradation of Ofloxacin Using a Montmorillonite–Fe3O4 Composite

In this work, FeM composites consisting of montmorillonite and variable amounts of Fe3O4 were successfully synthesized via a facile co-precipitation process. They were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption–desorption, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques to explain the effect of Fe3O4 content on the physicochemical properties of the Fe3O4–montmorillonite (FeM) composites. The FeM composites were subsequently used as heterogeneous Fenton catalysts to activate green oxidant (H2O2) for the subsequent degradation of ofloxacin (OFL) antibiotic. The efficiency of the FeM composites was studied by varying various parameters of Fe3O4 loading on montmorillonite, catalyst dosage, initial solution pH, initial OFL concentration, different oxidants, H2O2 dosage, reaction temperature, inorganic salts, and solar irradiation. Under the conditions of 0.75 g/L FeM-10, 5 mL/L H2O2, and natural pH, almost 81% of 50 mg/L of OFL was degraded within 120 min in the dark, while total organic carbon (TOC) reduction was about 56%. Although FeM composites could be a promising heterogeneous catalyst for the activation of H2O2 to degrade organic pollutants, including OFL antibiotic, the FeM-10 composite shows a significant drop in efficiency after five cycles, which indicates that more studies to improve this weakness should be conducted

Integration of Carboxymethyl Cellulose Isolated from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Waste into Bismuth Ferrite as Photocatalyst for Effective Anionic Dyes Degradation

Photocatalytic biomass valorization has proven to be a valuable approach for sustainably constructing value—added products from waste materials. The present study aimed to know about Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) nanoparticles combined into carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) obtained from oil palm empty fruit bunch waste (OCMC) and used as a catalyst composite for the degradation of anionic dyes, specifically on methyl orange (MO) and congo red (CR). The parameter that affects the formation of OCMC, such as the degree of substitution (DS), depends upon the alkalization reaction time and NaOH concentrations. The highest DS was obtained at 1.562 and found at 60% NaOH with 9 h of alkalization, very close to that of the commercial CMC (CCMC) DS value. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that OCMC as a semi-crystalline phase and the tensile strength of OCMC film increased significantly from 0.11 MPa to 3.54 MPa as compared to CCMC. The comparative study on photocatalytic degradation of MO and CR using OCMC and CCMC reinforced with 0.8% BiFeO3 showed a minor difference in removal percentage. The efficiency removal for CCMC/BFO towards CR and MO was enhanced to 95.49% and 92.93% after a 3-h treatment, and a similar result was obtained in the case of OCMC/BiFeO3 at 92.50% for CR and 89.56% for MO, respectively. Nevertheless, it is interesting that OCMC film exhibits remarkable stability with an improvement in terms of tensile strength and stays more intact than that of CCMC

Integration of Carboxymethyl Cellulose Isolated from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Waste into Bismuth Ferrite as Photocatalyst for Effective Anionic Dyes Degradation

Photocatalytic biomass valorization has proven to be a valuable approach for sustainably constructing value—added products from waste materials. The present study aimed to know about Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) nanoparticles combined into carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) obtained from oil palm empty fruit bunch waste (OCMC) and used as a catalyst composite for the degradation of anionic dyes, specifically on methyl orange (MO) and congo red (CR). The parameter that affects the formation of OCMC, such as the degree of substitution (DS), depends upon the alkalization reaction time and NaOH concentrations. The highest DS was obtained at 1.562 and found at 60% NaOH with 9 h of alkalization, very close to that of the commercial CMC (CCMC) DS value. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that OCMC as a semi-crystalline phase and the tensile strength of OCMC film increased significantly from 0.11 MPa to 3.54 MPa as compared to CCMC. The comparative study on photocatalytic degradation of MO and CR using OCMC and CCMC reinforced with 0.8% BiFeO3 showed a minor difference in removal percentage. The efficiency removal for CCMC/BFO towards CR and MO was enhanced to 95.49% and 92.93% after a 3-h treatment, and a similar result was obtained in the case of OCMC/BiFeO3 at 92.50% for CR and 89.56% for MO, respectively. Nevertheless, it is interesting that OCMC film exhibits remarkable stability with an improvement in terms of tensile strength and stays more intact than that of CCMC