Sono-Photocatalytic Activity of Cloisite 30B/ZnO/Ag2O Nanocomposite for the Simultaneous Degradation of Crystal Violet and Methylene Blue Dyes in Aqueous Media

Rauf Foroutan; Seyed Jamaleddin Peighambardoust; Daria Camilla Boffito; Bahman Ramavandi

doi:10.3390/nano12183103

Sono-Photocatalytic Activity of Cloisite 30B/ZnO/Ag₂O Nanocomposite for the Simultaneous Degradation of Crystal Violet and Methylene Blue Dyes in Aqueous Media

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Sep 7;12(18):3103. doi: 10.3390/nano12183103.

Authors

Rauf Foroutan¹, Seyed Jamaleddin Peighambardoust¹, Daria Camilla Boffito², Bahman Ramavandi³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 5166616471, Iran.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Monteral, Monteral, QC H3C 3A7, Canada.
³ Systems Environmental Health and Energy Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr 7514633341, Iran.

Abstract

A new nanocomposite based on Cloisite 30B clay modified with ZnO and Ag₂O nanoparticles (Cloisite 30B/ZnO/Ag₂O) was synthesized as an effective catalyst in the sono-photocatalytic process of crystal violet (CV) and methylene blue (MB) dyes simultaneously. The characteristics and catalytic activity of Cloisite 30B/ZnO/Ag₂O nanocomposite were investigated under different conditions. The specific active surface for Cloisite 30B/ZnO/Ag₂O nanocomposite was 18.29 m²/g. Additionally, the catalytic activity showed that Cloisite 30B/ZnO/Ag₂O nanocomposite (CV: 99.21%, MB: 98.43%) compared to Cloisite 30B/Ag₂O (CV: 85.38%, MB: 83.62%) and Ag₂O (CV: 68.21%, MB: 66.41%) has more catalytic activity. The catalytic activity of Cloisite 30B/ZnO/Ag₂O using the sono-photocatalytic process had the maximum efficiency (CV: 99.21%, MB: 98.43%) at pH 8, time of 50 min, amount of 40 mM H₂O₂, catalyst dose of 0.5 g/L, and the concentration of 'CV + MB' of 5 mg/L. The catalyst can be reused in the sono-photocatalytic process for up to six steps. According to the results, •OH and h⁺ were effective in the degradation of the desired dyes using the desired method. Data followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The method used in this research is an efficient and promising method to remove dyes from wastewater.

Keywords: Cloisite 30B; cationic dyes; scavenger; sono-photocatalyst; wastewater.

Grants and funding

This work has been supported by the University of Tabriz, International and Academic Cooperation Directorate, in the framework of the TabrizU-300 program.