Effective solar-based iron oxide supported HY zeolite catalyst for the decolorization of organic and simulated dyes

Abstract

A HY zeolite supported by highly dispersed electrogenerated iron oxide nanoparticles (EGFe 2 O 3 /HY) was prepared by a facile electrochemical method and has been characterized using XRD, TEM, BET, UV-vis/DRS, and XPS. The formation of EGFe 2 O 3 nanoparticles with a size of o30 nm, well distributed on the surface of HY, led to enhanced catalytic activity for the decolorization of organic dyes such as methylene blue (MB), congo red (CR), and methyl orange (MO) under sunlight irradiation. The MB dye shows the highest decolorization (99.9%) followed by CR (96.4%) and MO (91.3%). Kinetics study signifies that the reaction follows pseudo first-order kinetics, and the rate constants was determined using the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model which gave values of K R = 0.48 mg L À1 h À1 , K LH = 3.83 L mg À1 for MB; K R = 0.39 mg L À1 h À1 , K LH = 1.78 L mg À1 for CR; and K R = 0.29 mg L À1 h À1 , K LH = 0.13 L mg À1 for MO. No dissolution of EGFe 2 O 3 ions was detected during the photoreaction. The catalyst was stable with a slight decrease of decolorization (o13%) after five cycling runs. Good performance of the decolorization of simulated dyes was observed with nearly complete mineralization as measured by COD and TOC removal.

PERFORMANCE OF EGZrO2-EGFe2O3/HY AS PHOTOCATALYST AND ITS EFFICACY IN DECOLORIZATION OF DYE-CONTAMINANTS

“…A series of characteristic peaks were observed for EGZrO 2 at 30.2 (101), 35.2 (110), 50.3 (112), and 60.2 (211), which are consistent with the tetragonal (t) phase of ZrO 2 , and in agreement with JCPDS file PDF No 01-072-2743 (Fig. 1b) [3,14]. Characteristic peaks were observed at 2θ equal to 28.2, 31.5, and 34.5 and corresponded to the diffraction patterns of (−111), (111), and (002) of the monoclinic (m) phase of ZrO 2 (Fig.…”

“…Next, the XRD peaks of EGFe 2 O 3 (Fig. 1b) [3,14]. Hence, there is no other diffraction peaks were detected which indicated the purity of the prepared EGZrO 2 and EGFe 2 O 3 .…”

“…Characteristic peaks were observed at 2θ equal to 28.2, 31.5, and 34.5 and corresponded to the diffraction patterns of (−111), (111), and (002) of the monoclinic (m) phase of ZrO 2 (Fig. 1b) [3,14]. Next, the XRD peaks of EGFe 2 O 3 (Fig.…”

“…Recently, we have reported a new preparation method for an α-Fe 2 O 3 and EGZrO 2 supported HY catalyst by a simple and rapid electrochemical process, which possesses high photoactivity in the decolorization of methylene blue [3,14]. The nanosized metal oxides as well as the synergistic interaction between the metal and the support were found to play important roles in the enhancement of the reaction [4].…”

Facile one-pot electrosynthesis of high photoreactive hexacoordinated Si with Zr and Zn catalyst

“…1,2 Pioneers of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) used semiconductors such as TiO 2 , ZnO, WO 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , CuO, ZrO 2 and CdS as photocatalysts which are important because they can convert a wide range of harmful dyes into non-toxic products, CO 2 and water at ambient temperature. 3 In parallel, mixed metal oxides such as TiO 2 -ZrO 2 , Ag-ZnO, Fe 2 O 3 -TiO 2 , Sn-ZnO and Ag-TiO 2 also exhibit better performance and enhance the photocatalytic activity. [4][5][6][7][8] Recently, the use of supported metal oxide catalysts such as TiO 2 -HZSM5 (TiO 2 -Protonated Zeolite Socony Mobil #5), Co-ZSM5 (Co-Zeolite Socony Mobil #5) and CuO-X (CuO-Type X Zeolite) has become more attractive due to their advantage in lesser metal content and higher surface area.…”