Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Photocatalytic degradation of an anionic dye in aqueous solution by visible light responsive zinc oxide-termite hill composite

  • Published:
Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study investigated the photocatalytic potential of zinc oxide-termite hill composite (ZnO-TH) for anionic dye (acid blue 113, AB113) degradation in aqueous solution. The composite photocatalyst was prepared using the sol–gel method. The material properties were characterized using techniques such as gas sorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and titration for the determination of the surface charge. The photocatalytic conditions effect on AB113 dye degradation efficiency was examined at a fixed irradiation time of 60 min. It was identified that the optimum values of the initial dye concentration, aqueous solution pH and photocatalyst loading were 25 mg/L, 3.0 and 1.2 g/L, respectively. At these optimum conditions, the maximum decolorization efficiency was found to be 92.21%. AB113 dye was almost completely mineralized after 60 min of visible light irradiation in the presence of the ZnO-TH composite. The photocatalyst showed good stability after being reused for five times.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Giwa A, Akpan UG, Hameed BH (2012) Optimization of photocatalytic degradation of an anthraquinone dye using design of experiment. J Eng Res 17(3):20–31

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hamza A, Mohammed HA, Waziri SM (2013) Treatment of tannery effluent using ZnO-ZnF2O4 composite photocatalyst. J Niger Soc Chem Eng 7(2):1–7

    Google Scholar 

  3. Yusuff AS, Popoola LT, Aderibigbe IE (2020) Solar photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in textile industry wastewater by ZnO/pumice composite photocatalyst. J Env Chem Eng 8(4):103907

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ani IJ, Akpan UG, Olutoye MA, Hameed BH (2020) Solar light responsive TiO2-ZnO modified with graphitic carbon nitride nano-sheet degradation of AB29. J Chem Technol Biotechnol https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.6439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sudrajat H (2018) Superior photocatalytic activity of polyester fabrics coated with zinc oxide from waste hot dipping zinc. J Clean Product 172:1722–1729

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ani IC, Akpan UG, Olutoye MA, Hameed BH (2018) Photocatalytic degradation of pollutants in petroleum refinery wastewater by TiO2 and ZnO-based photocatalysts: recent development. J Clean Product 205:930–954

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Akpan UG, Hameed BH (2012) Photocatalytic degradation of wastewater containing acid red 1 dye by titanium dioxide: effect of calcination temperature. Desalinat Water Treat 43:84–90

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Ali I, Kim S-R, Kim S-P, Kim J-O (2016) Anodization of bismuth doped TiO2 nanotubes composite for photocatalytic degradation of phenol in visible light. Catal Today 282:31–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Olowoyo JO, Kumar M, Dash T, Saran S, Bhandari S, Kumar U (2018) Self-organized copper impregnation and doping in TiO2 with enhanced photocatalytic conversion of H2O and CO2 to fuel. Int J Hydrogen Energy 43:19468–19480

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Salama A, Mohamed A, Aboamera NM, Osman TA, Khattab A (2018) Photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes using composite nanofibers under UV irradiation. Appl Nanosci 8:155–161

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Lan H, Li L, An X, Liu F, Chen C, Liu H (2017) Microstructure of carbon nitride affecting synergetic photocatalytic activity: hydrogen bonds vs. structural defects. Appl Catal: B Environ 204:49–57

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ma L, Yang C, Tian X, Nie Y, Zhou Z, Li Y (2018) Enhanced usage of visible light by BiSex for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in water via the tunable band gap and energy band position. Jf Clean Product 171:538–547

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Bel Hadjltaief H, Zina MB, Galvez ME, Da Costa P (2016) Photocatalytic degradation of methyl green dye in aqueous solution over natural clay-supported ZnO-TiO2 catalysts. J Photochem Photobiol, A 315:25–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhang Y, Wu B, Xu H, Liu H, Wang M, He Y, Pan B (2016) Nanomaterials-enabled water and wastewater treatment. NanoImpact 3(4):22–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Sahel K, Bouhent M, Belkhadem F, Ferchichi M, Dappozze F, Guillard C, Figueras F (2014) Photocatalytic degradation of anionic and cationic dyes over TiO2-P25, and Ti-pillared clays and Ag-doped Ti-pillared clays. Appl Clay Sci 95:205–210

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Balcha A, Yadav OP, Dey T (2016) Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye by zinc oxide nanoparticles obtained from precipitation and sol-gel methods. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:25485–25493

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Reti B, Ilona G, Gyulav_ari, T., Baan, K., Magyari, K., Hernadi, K. (2017) Carbon sphere templates for TiO2 hollow structures: preparation, characterization and photocatalytic activity. Catal Today 284:160–168

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Bel hadjltaief H, Ameur S, da Costa P, Zina M, Galvez ME (2018) Photocatalytic decolorization of cationic and anionic dyes over ZnO nanoparticles immobilized on natural Tunusian Clay. Appl Clay Sci 152:148–157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Zhao L, Liu ZC, Liu ZF (2015) Synthetic zeolite supported ZnO nanoparticle materials for photocatalytic application. Energy Mater 10:15–21

    Google Scholar 

  20. Xing Z, Chen Y, Liu C, Yang J, Xu J, Situ Y, Huang H (2016) Synthesis of coreshell ZnO/oxygen doped g-C3N4 visible light driven photocatalyst via hydrothermal method. J Alloy Compos 708:853–861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hasan AKM, Dey SC, Rahman MM, Zakaria AM, Sarker M, Ashaduzzaman MD, Shamsuddin MD (2017) A kaolinite/TiO2/ZnO – based novel ternary composite for photocatalytic degradation of anionic azo dyes. Bull Mater Sci 43:27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Boutra B, Trari M (2018) Solar photodegradation of a textile azo dye using synthesized ZnO/Bentonite. Water Sci Technol 75(5):1211–1220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Akkari M, Aranda P, Belver C, Bediac J, Amara AB, Ruiz-Hitzky E (2018) ZnO/sepiolite heterostructured materials for solar photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceuticals in wastewater. Appl Clay Sci 156:104–109

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Zyoud AH, Zorba T, Helal M, Zyoud S, Qamhiya N, Hajamohideen AR, Zyoud S, Hilal HS (2019) Direct sunlight-driven degradation of 2-chlorophenol catalyzed by kaolinite-supported ZnO. Int J Environ Sci Technol 16(10):1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Motshekga SC, Ray SS, Onyango MS, Momba MNB (2015) Preparation and antibacterial activity of chitosan-based nanocomposites containing bentonite-supported silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles for water disinfection. Appl Clay Sci 114:330–339

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Soltani RDC, Jorfi S, Ramezani H, Purfadakari S (2016) Ultrasonically induced ZnO–biosilica nanocomposite for degradation of a textile dye in aqueous phase. Ultrasonics Sonochem 28:69–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Bel Hadjltaief H, Da Costa P, Beaunier P, Galvez ME, Benzina M (2014) Fe-clay plate as a heterogeneous catalyst in photo-Fenton oxidation of phenol as probe molecule for water treatment. Appl Clay Sci 91–92:46–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Ye J, Li X, Hong J, Chen J, Fan Q (2015) Photocatalytic degradation of phenol over ZnO nanosheets immobilized on montmorillonite. Mater Sci Semicond Process 39:17–22

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Hu B, Sun Q, Zuo C, Pei Y, Yang S, Zheng H, Liu F (2019) A highly efficient porous rod-like Ce-doped ZnO photocatalyst for the degradation of dye contaminants in water. Beilstein J Nanotechnol 10:1157–1165

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Xu H, Zhang D, Xu A, Wu F, Cao R (2015) Quantum sized zinc oxide immobilized on 495 bentonite clay and degradation of C.I. acid red 35 in aqueous under ultraviolet light. Int J Photoenergy 2015:7–17

    Google Scholar 

  31. Abedi K, Ghorbani SF, Jaleh B, Bahrami A, Yarahmadi R, Haddadi R, Gandomi M (2015) Decomposition of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) using NTP coupled with TiO2/GAC, ZnO/GAC, and TiO2-ZnO/GAC in a plasma-assisted catalysis system. J Electrostat 73:80–88

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Sonawane GH, Patil SP, Shrivastava VS (2016) Photocatalytic degradation of safranine by ZnO–bentonite: photodegradation versus adsorbability. J Instit Eng 98(1):55–63

    Google Scholar 

  33. Yusuff AS, Olateju II, Adesina OA (2019) TiO2/anthill clay as a heterogeneous catalyst for photocatalytic degradation of textile wastewater: Catalyst characterization and optimization studies. Materialia 8:100484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Adagbani FO, Adeojo SO, Okosun BF (2018) Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye using ZnO/fly ash as photocatalyst. J Pure Appl Sci 5(4):18–23

    Google Scholar 

  35. Fisli A, Krisnanandi YK, Gunlazuardi J (2017) Preparation and characterization of Fe2O3/SiO2/TiO2 composite for methylene blue removal in water. Int J Technol 1:76–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Li SQ, Zhou PJ, Zhang WS, Chen S, Peng H (2014) Effective photocatalytic decolorization of 453 methylene blue utilizing ZnO/rectorite nanocomposite under simulated solar irradiation. J Alloys Compos 616:227–234

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Okoye PU, Hameed BH (2016) Review on recent progress in catalytic carboxylation and acetylation of glycerol as a byproduct of biodiesel production. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 53:558–574

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Lente G (2015) Determination kinetics in chemistry and systems biology the dynamics of complex reaction network. Springer, https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319154817

  39. Lente G (2018) Facts and alternative facts in chemical kinetics: remarks about the kinetic use of activities, termolecular processes, and linearization techniques. Curr Opin Chemi Eng 21:76–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Lee KM, Bee S, Hamid A (2015) Simple response surface methodology: investigation on advance photocatalytic oxidation of 4-Chlorophenoxyacetic acid using UV-active ZnO photocatalyst. Materials (Basel) 339–354

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Mr. Samuel Oje of the University of Ibadan for the assistance he rendered in the SEM and FTIR analyses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Chemical Reaction Engineering and Catalysis, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Adeyinka S. Yusuff

  2. Laboratory of Material Science and Renewable Energy, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, College of Engineering, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Kazeem A. Bello & Temitayo M. Azeez

Authors
  1. Adeyinka S. Yusuff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kazeem A. Bello
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Temitayo M. Azeez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adeyinka S. Yusuff.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yusuff, A.S., Bello, K.A. & Azeez, T.M. Photocatalytic degradation of an anionic dye in aqueous solution by visible light responsive zinc oxide-termite hill composite. Reac Kinet Mech Cat 131, 537–554 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-020-01839-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-020-01839-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation