Superior dye degradation and adsorption capability of polydopamine modified Fe3O4-pillared bentonite composite

Qurat Ul Ain; Usman Rasheed; Muhammad Yaseen; Hanbing Zhang; Zhangfa Tong

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122758

Superior dye degradation and adsorption capability of polydopamine modified Fe₃O₄-pillared bentonite composite

J Hazard Mater. 2020 Oct 5:397:122758. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122758. Epub 2020 May 6.

Authors

Qurat Ul Ain¹, Usman Rasheed², Muhammad Yaseen³, Hanbing Zhang¹, Zhangfa Tong⁴

Affiliations

¹ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Resource Processing and Process Intensification Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, China; Institute of Environmental Engineering, College of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530005, China.
² Institute of Applied Microbiology, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530005, China.
³ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Resource Processing and Process Intensification Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, China; Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, 25120 KP, Pakistan. Electronic address: myyousafzai@gmail.com.
⁴ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Resource Processing and Process Intensification Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, China. Electronic address: dean@gxu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32388090
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122758

Abstract

Owing to the increasing demand of environmentally benign materials for the degradation of hazardous dyes, herein we are reporting two different synthesis approaches for the fabrication of iron loaded bentonite composites by modifying and activating bentonite surface with polydopamine (PDA) followed by pillaring with Fe³⁺ (Fe-PDA-bentonite) and Fe₃O₄ (Fe₃O₄-PDA-bentonite). Both the composites were assessed for their adsorption and degradation performance using crystal violet (CV), Rhodamine B and Brilliant blue dyes following adopting advanced oxidation process type Fenton reaction under variable energy sources (Sunlight, UV light and Ultrasonication), concentration of H₂O₂ and catalyst dosage. Under UV light irradiation, the composites achieved complete degradation of the dyes within 60 min and showed degradation rate constant of 30.5E-3-81.8E-3. Textural characterizations of the composites were achieved via XRD, FTIR, TGA, XPS, SEM-EDX, TEM, N₂ adsorption, VSM and UV/Vis spectrophotometry. The adsorption data of CV over the two composites fitted well with Langmuir adsorption isotherm, exhibiting the maximum adsorption capacity of 862 mg/g and 1235 mg/g for Fe-PDA-bentonite and Fe₃O₄-PDA-bentonite composites respectively. LCMS analysis of the post degradation products revealed that both the composites followed different degradation pathways and Fe₃O₄-PDA-bentonite showed superior photocatalytic performance by accomplishing complete dye degradation without leaving any degradation products. FTIR analysis of the post-degradation composites confirmed their structural stability with negligible iron leaching. This study, accredited to its cost-effectiveness, ease of operation and high efficiency, provides useful reference information for the degradation of dyes on industrial level.

Keywords: Crystal violet and Rhodamine B dyes degradation; Fe(3)O(4) loaded bentonite; LCMS; Polydopamine surface activation; Textural characterization.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't