Journal of Advances in Environmental Health Research

Journal of Advances in Environmental Health Research

Application of experimental design approach for optimization of the photocatalytic degradation of humic substances in aqueous solution using immobilized ZnO nanoparticles

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hooshyar Hossini 1
Mahdi Safari 2
Reza Rezaee 2
Reza Darvishi Cheshmeh Soltani 3
Omid Giahi 2
Yahya Zandsalimi 2
1 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
2 Environmental Health Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
3 Department of Environmental Health, School of Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
10.22102/jaehr.2015.40198
Abstract
Degradation of humic substances in water is important due to its adverse effects on the environment and human health. The aim of this study was modeling and investigating the degradation of humic substances in water using immobilized ZnO as a catalyst. ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized through simple coprecipitation (CPT) method and immobilized on glass plates. The immobilized ZnO nanocatalyst was characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD) were used to create an experimental design for humic degradation and color removal efficiency. The most important parameters including initial concentration, pH, and contact time were optimized. The optimum conditions were initial concentration of 7.68 mg/l, pH of 4.42, and contact time of about 125.6 minutes. Under optimal conditions, maximum humic substances and color removal of about 100 and 82.37% were obtained, respectively. These results illustrate that an immobilized form of ZnO can be used as an efficient nanocatalyst for effective degradation of humic substances in water. 
Keywords
Humic substances
Catalyst
Immobilization
Zinc oxide
Nanoparticles
Modeling
  1. Valencia S, Marin J, Velasquez J, Restrepo G, Frimmel FH. Study of pH effects on the evolution of properties of brown-water natural organic matter as revealed by size-exclusion chromatography during photocatalytic degradation. Water Research 2012; 46(4): 1198-206.
  2. Maleki A, Safari M, Shahmoradi B, Zandsalimi Y, Daraei H, Gharibi F. Photocatalytic degradation of humic substances in aqueous solution using Cu-doped ZnO nanoparticles under natural sunlight irradiation. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2015; 22(21): 16875-80.
  3. Yuan R, Zhou B, Hua D, Shi C. Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of humic acids using Al and Fe co-doped TiO2 nanotubes under UV/ozonation for drinking water purification. J Hazard Mater 2013; 262: 527-38.
  4. Remoundaki E, Vidali R, Kousi P, Hatzikioseyian A, Tsezos M. Photolytic and photocatalytic alterations of humic substances in UV (254 nm) and Solar Cocentric Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) reactors. Desalination 2009; 248(1-3): 843-51.
  5. Wang X, Wu Z, Wang Y, Wang W, Wang X, Bu Y, et al. Adsorption-photodegradation of humic acid in water by using ZnO coupled TiO2/bamboo charcoal under visible light irradiation. J Hazard Mater 2013; 262: 16-24.
  6. Parilti NB, Demirel CSU, Bekbolet M. Response surface methodological approach for the assessment of the photocatalytic degradation of NOM. J Photoch Photobio A 2011; 225(1): 26-35.
  7. Valencia S, Marin JM, Restrepo G, Frimmel FH. Application of excitation-emission fluorescence matrices and UV/Vis absorption to monitoring the photocatalytic degradation of commercial humic acid. Sci Total Environ 2013; 442: 207-14.
  8. Selcuk H, Bekbolet M. Photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic humic acid removal and selectivity of TiO(2) coated photoanode. Chemosphere 2008; 73(5): 854-8.
  9. Songlin W, Ning Z, Si W, Qi Z, Zhi Y. Modeling the oxidation kinetics of sono-activated persulfate's process on the degradation of humic acid. Ultrason Sonochem 2015; 23: 128-34.
  10. Amin MM, Safari M, Maleki A, Ghasemian M, Rezaee R, Hashemi H. Feasibility of humic substances removal by enhanced coagulation process in surface water. Int J Env Health Eng 2012; 1: 29.
  11. Jafari A, Mahvi AH, Nasseri S, Rashidi A, Nabizadeh R, Rezaee R. Ultrafiltration of natural organic matter from water by vertically aligned carbon nanotube membrane. J Environ Health Sci Eng 2015; 13: 51.
  12. Ulu F, Barsci S, Kobya M, Sarkka H, Sillanpaa M. Removal of humic substances by electrocoagulation (EC) process and characterization of floc size growth mechanism under optimum conditions. Sep Purif Technol 2014; 133: 246-53.
  13. Li C, Dong Y, Wu D, Peng L, Kong H. Surfactant modified zeolite as adsorbent for removal of humic acid from water. Appl Clay Sci 2011; 52(4): 353-7.
  14. Mahvi A, Maleki A, Rezaee R, Safari M. Reduction of humic substances in water by application of ultrasound waves and ultraviolet irradiation. Journal of Environmental Health Science & Engineering 2009; 6(4): 233-40.
  15. Yuan R, Zhou B, Zhang X, Guan H. Photocatalytic degradation of humic acids using substrate-supported Fe(3+)-doped TiO2 nanotubes under UV/O3 for water purification. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2015; 22(22): 17955-64.
  16. Soltani RDC, Rezaee A, Khataee AR, Safari M. Photocatalytic process by immobilized carbon black/ZnO nanocomposite for dye removal from aqueous medium: Optimization by response surface methodology. J Ind Eng Chem 2014; 20(4): 1861-8.
  17. Zandsalimi Y, Teymouri P, Darvishi Cheshmeh Soltani R, Rezaee R, Abdullahi N, Safari M. Photocatalytic removal of Acid Red 88 dye using zinc oxide nanoparticles fixed on glass plates. J AdvEnviron Health Res 2015; 3(2): 102-10.
  18. Khataee AR, Pons MN, Zahraa O. Photocatalytic degradation of three azo dyes using immobilized TiO2 nanoparticles on glass plates activated by UV light irradiation: influence of dye molecular structure. J Hazard Mater 2009; 168(1): 451-7.
  19. Sen Kavurmaci S, Bekbolet M. Photocatalytic degradation of humic acid in the presence of montmorillonite. Appl Clay Sci 2013; 75?76: 60-6.
  20. Darvishi Cheshmeh Soltani R, Rezaee A, Rezaee R, Safari M, Hashemi H. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye over immobilized ZnO nanoparticles: Optimization of calcination conditions. J Adv Environ Health Res 2015; 3(1): 8-14.
  21. Darvishi Cheshmeh Soltani R, Khataee AR, Godini H, Safari M, Ghanadzadeh MJ, Rajaei MS. Response surface methodological evaluation of the adsorption of textile dye onto biosilica/alginate nanobiocomposite: Thermodynamic, kinetic, and isotherm studies. Desalination and Water Treatment 2015; 56(5): 1389-402.
  22. Vepsalainen M, Ghiasvand M, Selin J, Pienimaa J, Repo E, Pulliainen M, et al. Investigations of the effects of temperature and initial sample pH on natural organic matter (NOM) removal with electrocoagulation using response surface method (RSM). Sep Purif Technol 2009; 69(3): 255-61.
  23. Darvishi Cheshmeh Soltani R, Rezaee A, Safari M, Khataee AR, Karimi B. Photocatalytic degradation of formaldehyde in aqueous solution using ZnO nanoparticles immobilized on glass plates. Desalination and Water Treatment 2015; 53(6): 1613-20.
  24. Hossini H, Rezaee A, Ayati B, Mahvi AA. Optimizing ammonia volatilization by air stripping from aquatic solutions using response surface methodology (RSM). Desalination and Water Treatment 2015.
  25. Masoumbaigi H, Rezaee A, Hosseini H, Hashemi SA. Water disinfection by zinc oxide nanoparticle prepared with solution combustion method. Desalination and Water Treatment 2015; 56(9): 2376-81.
  26. Bashir MJK, Aziz HA, Yusoff MS, Adlan M. Application of response surface methodology (RSM) for optimization of ammoniacal nitrogen removal from semi-aerobic landfill leachate using ion exchange resin. Desalination 2010; 254(1?3): 154-61.
  27. Akyol A, Bayramoglu M. Photocatalytic degradation of Remazol Red F3B using ZnO catalyst. J Hazard Mater 2005; 124(1-3): 241-6.
  28. Hoseinzadeh E, Alikhani MY, Samarghandi MR, Shirzad-Siboni M. Antimicrobial potential of synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Desalination and Water Treatment 2014; 52(25-27): 4969-76.
  29. Xue G, Liu H, Chen Q, Hills C, Tyrer M, Innocent F. Synergy between surface adsorption and photocatalysis during degradation of humic acid on TiO2/activated carbon composites. J Hazard Mater 2011; 186(1): 765-72.
  30. Chakrabarti S, Dutta BK. Photocatalytic degradation of model textile dyes in wastewater using ZnO as semiconductor catalyst. J Hazard Mater 2004; 112(3): 269-78.
  31. Peternel IT, Koprivanac N, Bozic AM, Kusic HM. Comparative study of UV/TiO2, UV/ZnO and photo-Fenton processes for the organic reactive dye degradation in aqueous solution. J Hazard Mater 2007; 148(1-2): 477-84.
  32. Wang J, Jiang Z, Zhang L, Kang P, Xie Y, Lv Y, et al. Sonocatalytic degradation of some dyestuffs and comparison of catalytic activities of nano-sized TiO2, nano-sized ZnO and
  33. composite TiO2/ZnO powders under ultrasonic irradiation. Ultrason Sonochem 2009; 16(2): 225-31.
  34. Byrappa K, Subramani AK, Ananda S, Lokanatha Rai KM, Dinesh R, Yoshimura M. Photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye using hydrothermally synthesized ZnO. B Mater Sci 2006; 29(5): 433-8.
  35. Yuan M, Wang S, Wang X, Zhao L, Hao T. Removal of organic dye by air and macroporous ZnO/MoO3/SiO2 hybrid under room conditions. Appl Surf Sci 2011; 257(18): 7913-9.
  36. Li B, Cao H. ZnO@graphene composite with enhanced performance for the removal of dye from water. J Mater Chem. J Mater Chem 2011; 21(10): 3346-9.
Journal of Advances in Environmental Health Research
Volume 3, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
13
Summer 2015
Pages 154-163