Solar light mediated anthracene abatement in aerated aqueous media using a thermoplastic nanocomposite photocatalyst

Fabiana Vento; Angelo Nicosia; Lidia Mezzina; Gemma M Rodríguez-Muñiz; Miguel A Miranda; Placido G Mineo; Guido De Guidi

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134988

Solar light mediated anthracene abatement in aerated aqueous media using a thermoplastic nanocomposite photocatalyst

Chemosphere. 2022 Sep;303(Pt 1):134988. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134988. Epub 2022 May 17.

Authors

Fabiana Vento¹, Angelo Nicosia², Lidia Mezzina², Gemma M Rodríguez-Muñiz³, Miguel A Miranda³, Placido G Mineo⁴, Guido De Guidi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Sciences and I.N.S.T.M. UdR of Catania, University of Catania, V.le A. Doria 6, I-95125, Catania, Italy; Instituto de Tecnología Química, Universitat Politècnica de València - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Avda. de los Naranjos s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
² Department of Chemical Sciences and I.N.S.T.M. UdR of Catania, University of Catania, V.le A. Doria 6, I-95125, Catania, Italy.
³ Instituto de Tecnología Química, Universitat Politècnica de València - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Avda. de los Naranjos s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
⁴ Department of Chemical Sciences and I.N.S.T.M. UdR of Catania, University of Catania, V.le A. Doria 6, I-95125, Catania, Italy; Institute for Chemical and Physical Processes CNR-IPCF, V.le F. Stagno d'Alcontres 37, I-98158, Messina, Italy; Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials CNR-IPCB, Via P. Gaifami 18, I-95126, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: placido.mineo@unict.it.
⁵ Department of Chemical Sciences and I.N.S.T.M. UdR of Catania, University of Catania, V.le A. Doria 6, I-95125, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: guido.deguidi@unict.it.

PMID: 35595109
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134988

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the most widespread xenobiotic pollutants in water and their abatement usually involves expensive and energy-consuming treatments. In this work, anthracene (AN) was selected as the recalcitrant model of PAHs and its solar light-stimulated heterogeneous photocatalytic abatement in aerated aqueous media was investigated using a new TiO₂ derived thermoplastic nanocomposite in thin film form. The results were also compared with the benchmark TiO₂ photocatalyst in slurry form. Finally, the possible contribution of reactive intermediates such as hydroxyl radical, AN radical cation and singlet oxygen, was investigated by using a hydroxyl radical trap and laser flash photolysis. Based on the obtained results, a feasible mechanism for AN photodegradation, which involves hydroxyl radical as the key oxidizing species is proposed.

Keywords: Anthracene photodegradation; Photodegradation mechanism; Solar-mediated depollution; Thermoplastic nanocomposite; Water remediation; Xenobiotic water pollutant.

MeSH terms

Anthracenes
Hydroxyl Radical
Light
Nanocomposites*
Photolysis
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons*
Water

Substances

Anthracenes
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Water
Hydroxyl Radical