Photocatalytic reduction of hexavalent chromium over ZnO nanorods immobilized on kaolin

Mehdi Shirzad-Siboni, Mehrdad Farrokhi, Reza Darvishi Cheshmeh Soltani, Alireza Khataee*, Sama Tajassosi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

160 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The photocatalytic reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) using ZnO nanorods immobilized on kaolin clay was studied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis demonstrated favorable immobilization of ZnO nanorods onto the kaolin. The efficiency of the UV/ZnO/kaolin process for reduction of Cr(VI) was about 88.0%, which was more effective than the UV/ZnO process (43.7%). The photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) was increased from 35.7 to 97.1%, with increasing photocatalyst dosage from 0.25 to 3 g/L, respectively. The reaction rate constant (kobs) was decreased from 0.0769 to 0.0072 1/min, and the value of electrical energy per order (EEo) was increased from 62.4 to 666.7 (kW·h/m3) with increasing initial Cr(VI) concentration from 10 to 50 mg/L, respectively. The photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) was increased from 88.3 to 98.5% in the presence of citric acid, while the presence of phenol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and oxalic acid resulted in decreasing the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) to 70.2, 53.2, and 36.4%, respectively.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1079-1087
Number of pages9
JournalIndustrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
Volume53
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Jan 2014
Externally publishedYes

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