With the goal of providing an economically viable method for reducing water pollution and health impact by the mezcal industry wastes, photocatalytic degradation of toxic alcohols using copper slag (CS) was evaluated, investigating the possibility for a concurrent hydrogen production. CS was characterized extensively by XRD, XRF, SEM–EDS, UV–Vis and electrochemical techniques to evaluate its properties as a photocatalyst. The slag consists of magnetite, fayalite and a silicate glass phase. CS showed a band gap of 2.75 eV, which is in the values range reported for fayalite, an n-type semiconductor with a clearly defined surface state. The band edge scheme for CS shows energy levels within the range required to perform the photocatalytic water reduction reaction, as well as the oxidation of the studied alcohols and their by-products. Experiments using UV and simulated solar light show that the efficiency of CS is higher in the visible range and that hydrogen production increases in the order methanol > propanol > isoamyl alcohol. An apparent quantum yield for methanol degradation of 40% under simulated solar light was obtained. This provides the prospect for a low cost and potential efficient photocatalyst for the oxidation of organic pollutants in industrial wastewater under solar radiation, with the simultaneous hydrogen generation.

为了提供一种经济可行的方法来减少因工业废料引起的水污染和健康影响，评估了使用铜渣（CS）光催化降解有毒醇的方法，从而研究了同时制氢的可能性。CS通过XRD，XRF，SEM-EDS，UV-Vis和电化学技术进行了广泛表征，以评估其作为光催化剂的性能。炉渣由磁铁矿，铁橄榄石和硅酸盐玻璃相组成。CS显示出2.75 eV的带隙，该带隙处于报道的方铁石（具有明确定义的表面状态的n型半导体）的值范围内。CS的能带边缘方案显示出进行光催化水还原反应以及所研究的醇及其副产物的氧化所需的能量水平。使用紫外线和模拟太阳光进行的实验表明，CS的效率在可见光范围内更高，并且产氢量按甲醇>丙醇>异戊醇的顺序增加。在模拟太阳光下，甲醇降解的表观量子产率为40％。这为低成本和潜在有效的光催化剂提供了前景，该光催化剂可在太阳辐射下同时产生氢的同时，氧化工业废水中的有机污染物。