This present study comes in
addition to overcome the problems of separation of fine particles of TiO2 in heterogeneous photocatalysis after treatment. It aims to show the potential
for using titaniferous sand as a new semiconductor under solar irradiation. The
photocatalytic efficiency of this titaniferous sand was tested on a pesticide (Azadirachtin). A tubular photocatalytic
reactor with recirculation of the
polluting solution was designed for the elimination of the pesticide in an
aqueous solution. Before its use as a photocatalyst, the titaniferous sand has
undergone a specific treatment that consists of calcination at 600℃ followed
by extraction of the calcined natural organic materials, which can interfere
with the measurement of analytical parameters such as COD. The titaniferous sand was also characterized by X-ray fluorescence
spectroscopy (XRF). XRF analyses have shown that TiO2 is predominant
in the titaniferous sand with a percentage that has been estimated at 46.34%.
The influence of various experimental parameters such as the flow rate of the
polluting solution, the concentration of titaniferous sand, the presence of
oxygen and the intensity of the overall rate of sunshine, was studied to
optimize the photocatalytic degradation of the pesticide. The results showed
that the highest removal rate (70%) was observed under the following
conditions: a pH of 6, a titaniferous sand concentration of 150 g/L, a flow
rate of 0.3 mL/min, and a sunshine rate of 354 W/m2 and in the
presence of atmospheric oxygen. Under these experimental conditions, the rate
of photodegradation of the pesticide follows the pseudo first order kinetic
model of Langmuir Hinshelwood with a coefficient of determination R2 of 0.9869 and an apparent rate constant of 0.0029 min
References
[1]
Ahmadpour, N., Sayadi, M.H., Sobhani, S. and Hajiani, M. (2020) Photocatalytic Degradation of Model Pharmaceutical Pollutant by Novel Magnetic TiO2@ZnFe2O4/Pd Nanocomposite with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity and Stability under Solar Light Irradiation. Journal of Environmental Management, 271, Article ID: 110964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110964
[2]
El-Shabasy, R., Yosri, N., El-Seedi, H., Shoueir, K. and El-Kemary, M. (2019) A Green Synthetic Approach Using Chili Plant supported Ag/Ag2O@P25 Heterostructure with Enhanced Photocatalytic Properties under Solar Irradiation. Optik, 192, Article ID: 162943. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2019.162943
[3]
Kanan, S., Moyet, M.A., Arthur, R.B. and Patterson, H.H. (2020) Recent Advances on TiO2-Based Photocatalysts toward the Degradation of Pesticides and Major Organic Pollutants from Water Bodies. Catalysis Reviews, 62, 1-65. https://doi.org/10.1080/01614940.2019.1613323
[4]
Yeganeh, M., Charkhloo, E., Sobhi, H.R., Esrafili, A. and Gholami, M. (2022) Photocatalytic Processes Associated with Degradation of Pesticides in Aqueous Solutions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Chemical Engineering Journal, 428, Article ID: 130081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.130081
[5]
Mojiri, A., et al. (2020) Pesticides in Aquatic Environments and Their Removal by Adsorption Methods. Chemosphere, 253, Article ID: 126646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126646
[6]
Serrano-Lázaro, A., et al. (2022) Tracing the Degradation Pathway of Temephos Pesticide Achieved with Photocatalytic ZnO Nanostructured Films. Environmental Science: Nano, 9, 3538-3550. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EN00384H
[7]
Cai, H., et al. (2021) Hydrothermal Synthesis of Hierarchical SnO2 Nanomaterials for High-Efficiency Detection of Pesticide Residue. Chinese Chemical Letters, 32, 1502-1506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cclet.2020.10.029
[8]
Hadei, M., Mesdaghinia, A., Nabizadeh, R., Mahvi, A.H., Rabbani, S. and Naddafi, K. (2021) A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Photocatalytic Degradation of Pesticides Using Nano TiO2. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 13055-13071. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12576-8
[9]
García-Prieto, J.C., González-Burciaga, L.A., Proal-Nájera, J.B. and García-Roig, M. (2022) Study of Influence Factors in the Evaluation of the Performance of a Photocatalytic Fibre Reactor (TiO2/SiO2) for the Removal of Organic Pollutants from Water. Catalysts, 12, Article 122. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12020122
[10]
Zeng, G., et al. (2021) Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 by Immobilization on Activated Carbon for Degradation of Aquatic Naphthalene under Sunlight Irradiation. Chemical Engineering Journal, 412, Article ID: 128498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.128498
[11]
Zhao, Z., et al. (2022) Fabrication of ZSM-5 Zeolite Supported TiO2-NiO Heterojunction Photocatalyst and Research on Its Photocatalytic Performance. Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 309, Article ID: 122895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssc.2022.122895
[12]
Khasawneh, O.F.S., Palaniandy, P., Ahmadipour, M., Mohammadi, H. and Bin Hamdan, M.R. (2021) Removal of Acetaminophen Using Fe2O3-TiO2 Nanocomposites by Photocatalysis under Simulated Solar Irradiation: Optimization Study. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 9, Article ID: 104921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2020.104921
[13]
Sanjeev, G., Agrawal, H., Thakur, M., Akbari, A., et al. (2020) Metal Oxides and Metal Organic Frameworks for the Photocatalytic Degradation: A Review. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 8, 103726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2020.103726
[14]
Charitha, T. (2021) Activity Enhanced TiO2 Nanomaterials for Photodegradation of Dyes—A Review. EnvironmentalNanotechnology, Monitoring & Management, 16, 100592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enmm.2021.100592
[15]
Subasinghe, C.S., et al. (2022) Global Distribution, Genesis, Exploitation, Applications, Production, and Demand of Industrial Heavy Minerals. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 15, Article No. 1616. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10874-0
[16]
Hadji, E., Diop, M., Sambe, M. and Toure, A.O. (2016) Photodégradation solaire de l’azadirachtine technique par du sable titanifère. Afrique Science, 12, 43-50.
[17]
Ba, K., Toure, A.O., Ndoye, M. and Sambe, F.M. (2022) Modelling and Response Surface Optimisation of Methyl Violet Removal by a Mixture of Titaniferous Sand and Non-Activated Attapulgite. Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 10, 10-26. https://doi.org/10.4236/msce.2022.109002
[18]
Deng, L., et al. (2022) Crystallization, Structure, and Properties of TiO2-ZrO2 Co-Doped MgO-B2O3-Al2O3-SiO2 Glass-Ceramics. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 575, Article ID: 121217. https://doi.org/10.4236/msce.2022.109002
[19]
Redha, Z.M., Yusuf, H.A., Amin, R. and Bououdina, M. (2020) The Study of Photocatalytic Degradation of a Commercial azo Reactive dye in a Simple Design Reusable Miniaturized Reactor with Interchangeable TiO2 Nanofilm. Arab Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 27, 287-298. https://doi.org/10.1080/25765299.2020.1800163
[20]
Naghizadeh, A., Etemadinia, T., Derakhshani, E. and Esmati, M. (2023) Graphitic carbon nitride Loaded on Powdered Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Photocatalytic Tetracycline Antibiotic Degradation under UV-C Light Irradiation. Research on Chemical Intermediates, 49, 1165-1177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-022-04942-z
[21]
Fadillah, G., Hidayat, R. and Saleh, T.A. (2022) Hydrothermal Assisted Synthesis of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Modified Graphene with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 113, 411-418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiec.2022.06.016
[22]
Gong, Z., Luo, L., Wang, C. and Tang, J. (2022) Photocatalytic Methane Conversion to C1 Oxygenates over Palladium and Oxygen Vacancies Co-Decorated TiO2. Solar RRL, 6, Article ID: 2200335, https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202200335
[23]
Shu, Z., et al. (2022) Sunlight-Induced Interfacial Electron Transfer of Ferrihydrite under Oxic Conditions: Mineral Transformation and Redox Active Species Production. Environmental Science & Technology, 56, 14188-14197. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c04594
[24]
Bahrudin, N.N. (2022) Evaluation of Degradation Kinetic and Photostability of Immobilized TiO2/Activated Carbon Bilayer Photocatalyst for Phenol Removal. Applied Surface Science Advances, 7, Article ID: 100208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsadv.2021.100208
[25]
Benaouda, S.N., et al. (2022) Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Degradation of Anionic Dye on Polyaniline/Microcrystalline Cellulose Composite. Journal of Porous Materials, 30, 327-341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-022-01342-x
[26]
Borges, M.E., Sierra, M., Méndez-Ramos, J., Acosta-Mora, P., Ruiz-Morales, J.C. and Esparza, P. (2016) Solar Degradation of Contaminants in Water: TiO2 Solar Photocatalysis Assisted by up-Conversion Luminescent Materials. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 155, 194-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.06.010
[27]
Ranjbari, A., Demeestere, K., Verpoort, F., Kim, K.-H. and Heynderickx, P.M. (2022) Novel Kinetic Modeling of Thiabendazole Removal by Adsorption and Photocatalysis on Porous Organic Polymers: Effect of pH and Visible Light Intensity. Chemical Engineering Journal, 431, Article ID: 133349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.133349