Effect of Organic Substrates on the Photocatalytic Reduction of Cr(VI) by Porous Hollow Ga₂O₃ Nanoparticles

Jin Liu; Huihui Gan; Hongzhang Wu; Xinlei Zhang; Jun Zhang; Lili Li; Zhenling Wang

doi:10.3390/nano8040263

Effect of Organic Substrates on the Photocatalytic Reduction of Cr(VI) by Porous Hollow Ga₂O₃ Nanoparticles

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2018 Apr 22;8(4):263. doi: 10.3390/nano8040263.

Authors

Jin Liu¹, Huihui Gan², Hongzhang Wu³, Xinlei Zhang⁴, Jun Zhang⁵, Lili Li^{6

7}, Zhenling Wang⁸

Affiliations

¹ Henan Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, International Joint Research Laboratory for Biomedical Nanomaterials of Henan, The Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials and Applications, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China. jinliu@zknu.edu.cn.
² School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University, Ningbo 315100, China. hhgan@nit.zju.edu.cn.
³ Henan Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, International Joint Research Laboratory for Biomedical Nanomaterials of Henan, The Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials and Applications, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China. hongzhang_wu@zknu.edu.cn.
⁴ Henan Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, International Joint Research Laboratory for Biomedical Nanomaterials of Henan, The Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials and Applications, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China. zhangxinlei@zknu.edu.cn.
⁵ Henan Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, International Joint Research Laboratory for Biomedical Nanomaterials of Henan, The Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials and Applications, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China. 18238260132@163.com.
⁶ Henan Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, International Joint Research Laboratory for Biomedical Nanomaterials of Henan, The Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials and Applications, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China. lilili@zknu.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Life Science and Agriculture, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China. lilili@zknu.edu.cn.
⁸ Henan Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, International Joint Research Laboratory for Biomedical Nanomaterials of Henan, The Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials and Applications, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China. zlwang2007@hotmail.com.

Abstract

Porous hollow Ga₂O₃ nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by a hydrolysis method followed by calcination. The prepared samples were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra and Raman spectrum. The porous structure of Ga₂O₃ nanoparticles can enhance the light harvesting efficiency, and provide lots of channels for the diffusion of Cr(VI) and Cr(III). Photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI), with different initial pH and degradation of several organic substrates by porous hollow Ga₂O₃ nanoparticles in single system and binary system, were investigated in detail. The reduction rate of Cr(VI) in the binary pollutant system is markedly faster than that in the single Cr(VI) system, because Cr(VI) mainly acts as photogenerated electron acceptor. In addition, the type and concentration of organic substrates have an important role in the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI).

Keywords: Cr(VI); Ga2O3; organic pollutants; porous.