In the last decades, the removal of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) has been considered a major environmental crisis. In this study, two novel nanocomposite materials (Fe2O3/SiO2 and Fe2O3-Mn2O3/SiO2) that have regeneration ability by UV irradiation have been fabricated to remove BTEX at ambient temperature. This research revealed that both nanocomposites could remove more than 85% of the BTEX in the first cycle. The adsorption capacities followed the order of ethylbenzene > m-xylene > toluene > benzene as in the molecular weight order. The reusability test using UV irradiation showed that the performance of Fe2O3/SiO2 decreased drastically after the fifth cycle for benzene. On the other hand, when Mn is located in the nanocomposite structure, Fe2O3-Mn2O3/SiO2 could maintain its adsorption performance with more than 80% removal efficiency for all the BTEX for ten consecutive cycles. The difference in the reusability of the two nanocomposites is that the electron energy (from the valence band to the conduction band) for BTEX decomposition is changed due to the presence of manganese. This study provides a promising approach for designing an economical reusable nanomaterial, which can be used for VOC-contaminated indoor air.
Keywords: BTEX removal; UV-assisted regeneration; metal oxide; nanocomposites; reusability.