Vanadia as an electron-hole recombination inhibitor on fibrous silica-titania for selective hole oxidation of ciprofloxacin and Congo red photodegradation

N S Hassan; A A Jalil; I C M Fei; M T A Razak; N F Khusnun; M B Bahari; Y I Riwayati; S Suprapto; D Prasetyoko; M L Firmansyah; N F M Salleh; Saravanan Rajendran

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139502

Vanadia as an electron-hole recombination inhibitor on fibrous silica-titania for selective hole oxidation of ciprofloxacin and Congo red photodegradation

Chemosphere. 2023 Oct:338:139502. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139502. Epub 2023 Jul 13.

Authors

N S Hassan¹, A A Jalil², I C M Fei³, M T A Razak³, N F Khusnun¹, M B Bahari⁴, Y I Riwayati⁵, S Suprapto⁵, D Prasetyoko⁵, M L Firmansyah⁶, N F M Salleh⁷, Saravanan Rajendran⁸

Affiliations

¹ Centre of Hydrogen Energy, Institute of Future Energy, 81310, UTM, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia; Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, UTM, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
² Centre of Hydrogen Energy, Institute of Future Energy, 81310, UTM, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia; Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, UTM, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Electronic address: aishahaj@utm.my.
³ Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, UTM, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
⁴ Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, UTM, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Data Analytics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Keputih, Sukolilo, Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia.
⁶ Nanotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Airlangga University, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia.
⁷ Environmental and Occupational Health Programme, School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
⁸ Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tarapacá, Avda, General Velasquez, 1775, Arica, Chile.

PMID: 37453521
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139502

Abstract

Vanadia (V₂O₅)-incorporated fibrous silica-titania (V/FST) catalysts, which were successfully synthesized using a hydrothermal method followed by the impregnation of V₂O₅. The catalysts were then characterized using numerous techniques, including X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption analyses, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) analyses. The study found that varying the amount of V₂O₅ (1-10 wt%) had a significant impact on the physicochemical properties of the FST, which in turn improved the photodegradation efficiency of two organic compounds, ciprofloxacin (CIP) and congo red (CR). 5V/FST demonstrated the best performance in degrading 10 mg L^-1 of CIP (83%) and CR (100%) at pH 3 using 0.375 g L^-1 catalyst under visible light irradiation within 180 min. The highest photoactivity of 5V/FST is mainly due to higher crystallinity and the highest number of V₂O₅-FST interactions. Furthermore, as demonstrated by PL analysis, the 5V/FST catalyst has the most significant impact on interfacial charge transfer and reduces electron-hole recombination. The photodegradation of both contaminants follows the Langmuir-Hinshelwood pseudo-first-order model, according to the kinetic study. The scavenger investigation demonstrated that hydroxyl radicals and holes dominated species in the system, indicating that the catalyst effectively generated reactive species for pollutant degradation. A possible mechanism was also identified for FST and 5V/FST. Interestingly, V₂O₅ acts as an electron-hole recombination inhibitor on FST for selective hole oxidation of ciprofloxacin and congo red photodegradation. Finally, the degradation efficiency of the catalyst remained relatively stable even after five cyclic experiments, indicating its potential for long-term use in environmental remediation.

Keywords: Ciprofloxacin and Congo red; Electron-hole recombination; Fibrous silica-titania; Hole oxidation; Inhibitor; Vanadia.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Ciprofloxacin*
Congo Red*
Electrons
Light
Photolysis
Recombination, Genetic
Silicon Dioxide / chemistry

Substances

Congo Red
titanium dioxide
Ciprofloxacin
Silicon Dioxide