Photogeneration of hydrogen from industrial wastewater containing organic pollutants by using TiO2/ZrO2 nanocomposite

Subject Areas : journal of New Materials

Hassan Koohestani ¹

1 - Faculty of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.

Received: 2018-01-21 Accepted : 2019-01-31 Published : 2019-01-21

Keywords: TiO2-ZrO2, Hydrogen production, industrial wastewater, cyanide ion, simultaneous degradation,

Abstract :

The simultaneous production of hydrogen and degradation of organic pollutants (methyl orange and cyanide ion) was successfully achieved using TiO2-10%ZrO2 photocatalyst which was synthesized in our previous study. With this catalyst, the degradation of methyl orange (or cyanide ion) was accompanied by the concurrent production of H2. The effects of operational variables, including pollutant concentration, solution pH and irradiation time, on the rate of hydrogen production were investigated. The activity of TiO2-10%ZrO2 gradually decreased with increasing pH, which makes its application of limited to the acidic pH region. The effect of concentration of the pollutants on the hydrogen generation rate is consistent with a Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be explained in terms of reduced electron-hole recombination via hole consumption by pollutants. It is concluded that, under certain experimental conditions, it is possible to obtain significantly enhanced rates of photoinduced hydrogen production from TiO2-10%ZrO2 with simultaneous degradation of methyl orange and cyanide ion.

References:

References:

1.   Patsoura, A., D.I. Kondarides, and X.E. Verykios, Photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants with simultaneous production of hydrogen. Catalysis Today, 2007. 124(3): p. 94-102.

2.   Chatterjee, D. and S. Dasgupta, Visible light induced photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry Reviews, 2005. 6(2): p. 186-205.

3.   Koohestani, H. and S.K. Sadrnezhaad, Photocatalytic Activity of Immobilized Geometries of TiO2. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 2015. 24(7): p. 2757-2763.

4.   Patsoura, A., D.I. Kondarides, and X.E. Verykios, Enhancement of photoinduced hydrogen production from irradiated Pt/TiO2 suspensions with simultaneous degradation of azo-dyes. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 2006. 64(3): p. 171-179.

5.   Li, Y., G. Lu, and S. Li, Photocatalytic transformation of rhodamine B and its effect on hydrogen evolution over Pt/TiO2 in the presence of electron donors. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 2002. 152(1): p. 219-228.

6.   Zheng, X.-J., et al., Research on photocatalytic H2 production from acetic acid solution by Pt/TiO2 nanoparticles under UV irradiation. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2009. 34(22): p. 9033-9041.

7.   Zieliñska, B., E. Borowiak-Palen, and R.J. Kalenczuk, Photocatalytic hydrogen generation over alkaline-earth titanates in the presence of electron donors. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2008. 33(7): p. 1797-1802.

8.   Kiwi, J. and M. Grätzel, Optimization of conditions for photochemical water cleavage. Aqueous platinum/TiO2 (anatase) dispersions under ultraviolet light. The Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1984. 88(7): p. 1302-1307.

9.   Kim, J., Y. Park, and H. Park, Solar Hydrogen Production Coupled with the Degradation of a Dye Pollutant Using TiO2 Modified with Platinum and Nafion. International Journal of Photoenergy, 2014. 2014.

10. Wang, X. and X.-y. Li, Photocatalytic hydrogen generation with simultaneous organic degradation by a visible light-driven CdS/ZnS film catalyst. Materials Science and Engineering: B, 2014. 181: p. 86-92.

11. Koohestani, H. and S.K. Sadrnezhaad, Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange and cyanide by using TiO2/CuO composite. Desalination and Water Treatment, 2016. 57(46): p. 22029-22038.

12. Koohestani, H. and S.K. Sadrnezhaad, Improvement in TiO2 photocatalytic performance by ZrO2 nanocompositing and immobilizing. Desalination and Water Treatment, 2016. 57(58): p. 28450-28459.

13. Li, Y., G. Lu, and S. Li, Photocatalytic production of hydrogen in single component and mixture systems of electron donors and monitoring adsorption of donors by in situ infrared spectroscopy. Chemosphere, 2003. 52(5): p. 843-850.

14. Li, Y., G. Lu, and S. Li, Photocatalytic hydrogen generation and decomposition of oxalic acid over platinized TiO2. Applied Catalysis A: General, 2001. 214(2): p. 179-185.

15. Kim, J., D. Monllor-Satoca, and W. Choi, Simultaneous production of hydrogen with the degradation of organic pollutants using TiO2 photocatalyst modified with dual surface components. Energy & Environmental Science, 2012. 5(6): p. 7647-7656.

16. Konstantinou, I.K. and T.A. Albanis, TiO2-assisted photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes in aqueous solution: kinetic and mechanistic investigations: a review. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 2004. 49(1): p. 1-14.

17. Koohestani, H., Photocatalytic removal of chromium (VI) by using TiO2 nanoparticles in the presence of cyanide. Scientific Journal Management System, 2018. 10(33): p. 31-38.

18. Li, Y., et al., Photocatalytic hydrogen generation in the presence of glucose over ZnS-coated ZnIn2S4 under visible light irradiation. international journal of hydrogen energy, 2010. 35(13): p. 7116-7126.