Sonocatalysis of a sulfa drug using neodymium-doped lead selenide nanoparticles

Alireza Khataee; Samira Arefi-Oskoui; Atefeh Karimi; Mehrangiz Fathinia; Younes Hanifehpour; Sang Woo Joo

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2015.05.042

Sonocatalysis of a sulfa drug using neodymium-doped lead selenide nanoparticles

Ultrason Sonochem. 2015 Nov:27:345-358. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2015.05.042. Epub 2015 Jun 3.

Authors

Alireza Khataee¹, Samira Arefi-Oskoui², Atefeh Karimi², Mehrangiz Fathinia², Younes Hanifehpour³, Sang Woo Joo⁴

Affiliations

¹ Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: a_khataee@tabrizu.ac.ir.
² Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran.
³ School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, 712-749 Gyeongsan, South Korea.
⁴ School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, 712-749 Gyeongsan, South Korea. Electronic address: swjoo@yu.ac.kr.

PMID: 26186854
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2015.05.042

Abstract

Undoped and Nd-doped PbSe nanoparticles with different Nd contents were successfully synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method. The prepared nanoparticles were thoroughly characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. Catalytic efficiency of undoped and Nd-doped PbSe samples was evaluated by monitoring the removal of sulfasalazine (SSZ) in aqueous solution under ultrasonic irradiations (sonocatalytic removal process). It was found that the presence of the K2S2O8 accelerated the sonocatalytic removal of SSZ, but the presence of NaF, Na2SO4, NaCl, and NaHCO3 obstructed it. The removal efficiency of 30.24% for PbSe and 86% for 12% Nd-doped PbSe was achieved at 90 min of reaction time, in the presence of peroxydisulfate. Also, the effect of operational parameters on the sonocatalytic removal efficiency and the dominant sonocatalytic removal mechanism were completely examined. It was found that removal of SSZ by sonocatalytic process was completed by the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS) rather than pyrolysis. An ecotoxicological test using an aquatic plant Lemna minor (L. minor) confirmed the negligible toxicity of the synthesized samples, which makes these nanoparticles appropriate for use as a sonocatalyst.

Keywords: Nanocatalyst; PbSe nanomaterials; Phytotoxicity; Sonocatalysis; Sonocatalyst; Sulfa drugs.