Tuned CuCr layered double hydroxide/carbon-based nanocomposites inducing sonophotocatalytic degradation of dimethyl phthalate

Tannaz Sadeghi Rad; Emine Sevval Yazici; Alireza Khataee; Erhan Gengec; Mehmet Kobya

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106358

Tuned CuCr layered double hydroxide/carbon-based nanocomposites inducing sonophotocatalytic degradation of dimethyl phthalate

Ultrason Sonochem. 2023 May:95:106358. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106358. Epub 2023 Mar 6.

Authors

Tannaz Sadeghi Rad¹, Emine Sevval Yazici¹, Alireza Khataee², Erhan Gengec³, Mehmet Kobya⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University, 41400 Gebze, Turkey.
² Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University, 41400 Gebze, Turkey; Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: akhataee@gtu.edu.tr.
³ Department of Environmental Protection, University of Kocaeli, 41275 Izmit, Kocaeli, Turkey.
⁴ Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University, 41400 Gebze, Turkey; Department of Environmental Engineering, Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, 720038 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Abstract

This study is the first to explore the possibility of utilizing CuCr LDH decorated on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and graphene oxide (GO) as sonophotocatalysts for the degradation of dimethyl phthalate (DMP). CuCr LDH and its nanocomposites were successfully fabricated and characterized. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) along with high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) both evidenced the formation of randomly oriented nanosheet structures of CuCr LDH coupled with thin and folded sheets of GO and rGO. The impact of diverse processes on the degradation efficiency of DMP in the presence of the so-prepared catalysts was compared. Benefiting from the low bandgap and high specific surface area, the as-obtained CuCr LDH/rGO represented outstanding catalytic activity (100 %) toward 15 mg L^-1 of DMP within 30 min when subjected to light and ultrasonic irradiations simultaneously. Radical quenching experiments and visual spectrophotometry using an O-phenylenediamine revealed the crucial role of hydroxyl radicals compared to holes and superoxide radicals. Overall, outcomes disclosed that CuCr LDH/rGO is a stable and proper sonophotocatalyst for environmental remediation.

Keywords: Advanced oxidation processes; Dimethyl phthalate; Graphene; Layered double hydroxide; Sonophotocatalysis.