TiO2 quantum dots loaded sulfonated graphene aerogel for effective adsorption-photocatalysis of PFOA

Chao Zhu; Jinli Xu; Shuang Song; Jun Wang; Yungui Li; Renlan Liu; Yi Shen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134275

TiO₂ quantum dots loaded sulfonated graphene aerogel for effective adsorption-photocatalysis of PFOA

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Jan 1:698:134275. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134275. Epub 2019 Sep 3.

Authors

Chao Zhu¹, Jinli Xu¹, Shuang Song¹, Jun Wang², Yungui Li³, Renlan Liu⁴, Yi Shen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, PR China.
² State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, China.
³ Sichuan Provincial Sci-Tech Cooperation Base of Low-cost Wastewater Treatment Technology, Department of Environmental Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China.
⁴ College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, PR China. Electronic address: shenyi@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 31505352
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134275

Abstract

With the pollution of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) became increasingly serious, the researches focused on removal of PFASs by adsorption-photocatalysis method has attracted considerable attention. To make the catalyst TiO₂ disperse uniformly as quantum dots onto hydrophobic surface which was liable to attract perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were used in this work, which not only connected the hydrophilic TiCl₃ to the hydrophobic sulfonated graphene (SG) nanosheets, but also behaved as the molecular template for controlled nucleation and growth of the nanostructured TiO₂. After 3D SG-TiO₂ QD nanosheets were fabricated, a series of 3D SG-TiO₂ QD aerogels were self-assembled by ice-template. TiO₂ uniformly distributed on the surface of SG aerogel at QD size level (2-3 nm) and the size of TiO₂ could be effectively regulated by concentration of SDS. Compared with aggregated TiO₂ material, 3D SG-TiO₂ QD aerogels owned higher adsorption and photocatalytic performance. Benefiting from the hydrophobic surface of 3D SG as well as dispersed TiO₂ QDs, 3D SG-TiO₂ QD could enrich PFOA instantaneously (0.0381/s) and photocatalytic decomposed them effectively (1.898 E^-4/s). PFOA degradation by hole and hydroxyl radicals proceeded via a stepwise mechanism. The column made of 3D SG-TiO₂ QD could remove PFOA persistently in cycles of permeation. 3D SG-TiO₂ QD possessed powerful adsorption-photocatalytic decomposition capability of PFOA and steady reusability performance. The present work highlights the individual roles and synergistic effect of TiO₂ QD and 3D SG for effectively removing PFOA.

Keywords: Adsorption-Photocatalysis; Perfluorooctanoic acid; Sulfonated graphene aerogel; TiO(2) quantum dots.