Speaker
Description
Water is one of the most precious natural resources. It is an essential need and an indispensable component for the survival of all forms of life on this planet. Without water there is no life on Earth. Sadly, however, water contamination by organic, inorganic and biological pollutants has become a serious problem throughout the globe. Much worse, the recent expansion of human activities mainly domestic and industrial activities (e.g. textile, paper, food, plastic, cosmetic, photographic, and pharmaceutical industries) has resulted in a significant increase of pollutants in different environmental compartments such as soil, water, and atmosphere. In this study, a new hybrid material denoted Bi3O4Br@Chitosan has been successfully prepared through a multistep process and evaluated in the photodegradation of rhodamine B in aqueous solution and reduction of 4-nitrophenol in the presence of NaBH4. The surface morphology, elemental composition, crystal structure and light absorption ability of the obtained photocatalysts were comprehensively examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), raman spectroscopy and Uv-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Experimental studies revealed that the prepared materials exhibit a good photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B in aqueous medium and reduction of 4-nitrophenol in the presence of NaBH4 as a reducing agent. Additionally, good reusability of the photocatalyst was also observed in many successive catalytic runs. Thus, the combination of adsorption and photocatalytic wastewater treatment could provide a new, highly efficient and more advanced route to address the global water crisis the human society is currently facing.
