Reversible adsorption of oxygen as superoxide ion on cerium doped zirconium titanate

Zirconium titanate (ZrTiO4) modified via cerium ions insertion in the oxide lattice has been successfully prepared via Sol-Gel synthesis forming solid solutions in the molar range between 0 and 10%. Cerium ions are hosted both as Ce4+ and Ce3+ ions whose ratio depends on the treatment undergone by the solid, with trivalent cerium always abundantly present even in strong oxidative conditions. Surface exposed Ce3+ ions are capable to adsorb O2 in the range of temperature between 273 K and 77 K, as superoxide anion (O2[rad] 12), having side-on structure and characterized by complete surface-to-molecule electron transfer (about 98% of spin density on O2 molecule). Surprisingly such abundant adsorption is pressure dependent and fully reversible opening the perspective of applications of this system in the field of oxygen separation from gas mixtures

Different approaches for the solar photocatalytic removal of micro-contaminants from aqueous environment: Titania vs. hybrid magnetic iron oxides

This work reports on the light-induced heterogeneous photodegradation of four micro-contaminants (MCs): Carbamazepine (C), Flumequine (F), Ibuprofen (I), and Sulfamethoxazole (S), using two different heterogeneous advanced oxidation processes. The first one is the semiconductor photocatalysis, run in the presence of the suspension of a home prepared TiO2 (TiO2 HP); the second one is an heterogeneous photo-Fenton process run in the presence of a hybrid magnetic nanomaterial (MB3) with an iron oxides core and an organic shell made of bio-based substances (BBS) isolated from urban biowaste. The two materials work upon two different mechanisms and were already tested (and the action mechanism hypothesized) at the lab scale under model conditions: TiO2 acts as photocatalyst through the photo-generation of hole/electron pairs able to give rise to oxidation and reduction reactions, whereas hybrid magnetic nanomaterial acts in the presence of H2O2 by a photo-Fenton like mechanism. The results evidenced the better performances of TiO2 HP (also better than the well-known reference TiO2 P25). Preliminary photodegradation experiments carried out in a pilot plant under natural solar radiation confirmed the good results obtained with TiO2 HP. Moreover, in the adopted experimental conditions, the Fe(II) leached from MB3 can be considered as responsible of the MCs degradation through a homogeneous photo-Fenton reaction, where MB3 act as iron reservoir

Magnetic hybrid nanomaterials for the photodegradation of microcontaminats in aqueous environment

Bio-based substances (BBS) isolated from urban biowaste have been employed to prepare hybrid magnetic nanomaterials with iron oxides. Such materials have been tested, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, for the light induced photodegradation of four microcontaminants (MCs) in aqueous environment: Carbamazepine (C, an anticonvulsant and analgesic drug), Flumequine (F, an antibiotic), Ibuprofen (I, a non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug), and Sulfamethoxazole (S, an antibiotic). Preliminary photodegradation experiments were carried out at lab-scale in a solar simulator, whereas optimized experiments were carried out in a pilot plant under natural solar radiation. The MCs complete abatement has been observed when working at acidic pH with no significant kinetic differences between experiments run in solar simulator and in the solar pilot plant