Journal Article

High efficient COVID-19 waste co-pyrolysis char/TiO2 nanocomposite for photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) under visible light

Rajamohan, Sakthivel, Nallaselvam, Tamilarasan, Hoang, Anh Tuan, Kalaiarasu, Balaji

2023

Overview

Titanium dioxide (Titania) nanoparticle-coated biochar derived through co-pyrolysis of COVID-19 waste face mask (WFM) and Moringa oleifera seed cake (MO) provides an effective way to alleviate toxic metal in wastewater. This study investigates the effects of Biochar/titania photocatalyst preparation, characterization, and its photoreduction of Cr(VI). The morphological and functional modifications in the catalyst were identified using X-Ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet spectrophotometer, surface area analysis, and Raman spectrophotometer, respectively. The influencing parameters, namely, pH, photocatalyst dosage, initial pollutant concentration, and visible light irradiation time, have been investigated. The findings reveal that the Cr(VI) reduction by the photocatalyst was highly facilitated by photocatalytic process. The prepared photocatalyst shows higher and faster reduction rate of Cr(VI) and also improves the catalyst stability. The photoreduction of Cr(VI) ensembles well with pseudo-first order kinetics. At 180 min of reaction time, maximum Cr(VI) reduction of 98.65% was achieved at pH 2, 0.3 g/L catalyst dosage, and 10 ppm initial concentration, respectively. The synthesized photocatalyst shows excellent recycling performance up to 7 times, and these studies proved that the prepared catalyst is cost-effective and efficiently employed for removing pollutants.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Aquatic Pollution / Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution / biochar / Catalysts / Charcoal / Chromium / cost effectiveness / COVID-19 / COVID-19 infection / Dosage / Earth and Environmental Science / Ecotoxicology / electron microscopy / Environment / Environmental Chemistry / Environmental Health / face masks / Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy / Fourier transforms / Infrared analysis / Infrared spectrophotometers / Infrared spectroscopy / Irradiation / light / Light irradiation / Moringa oleifera / Nanocomposites / Nanoparticles / oilseed cakes / Photocatalysis / Photocatalysts / Photoreduction / Pollutant removal / Pollutants / Protective equipment / Pyrolysis / Research Article / Scanning electron microscopy / spectrophotometers / surface area / Titanium / Titanium dioxide / toxicity / Ultraviolet spectrophotometers / Waste Water Technology / Wastewater / Water Management / Water Pollution Control / X-ray diffraction