Enhanced photocatalytic removal of cyanotoxins by Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles with visible-LED irradiation

The ZnO-based visible-LED photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of two typical cyanotoxins, microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and anatoxin-A, were examined. Al-doped ZnO nanoparticle photocatalysts, in Al:Zn ratios between 0 and 5 at.%, were prepared via sol-gel method and exhaustively characterized by...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Benamara, Majdi, Gómez, Elvira, Dhahri, Ramzi, Serrà i Ramos, Albert
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/173612
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/173612
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Fotocatàlisi
Nanopartícules
Díodes electroluminescents
Photocatalysis
Nanoparticles
Light emitting diodes
Descripción
Sumario:The ZnO-based visible-LED photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of two typical cyanotoxins, microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and anatoxin-A, were examined. Al-doped ZnO nanoparticle photocatalysts, in Al:Zn ratios between 0 and 5 at.%, were prepared via sol-gel method and exhaustively characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. With both cyanotoxins, increasing the Al content enhances the degradation kinetics, hence the use of nanoparticles with 5 at.% Al content (A5ZO). The dosage affected both cyanotoxins similarly, and the photocatalytic degradation kinetics improved with photocatalyst concentrations between 0.5 and 1.0 g L-1. Nevertheless, pH study revealed that the chemical state of a species decisively facilitates the mutual interaction of cyanotoxin and photocatalysts. A5ZO nanoparticles achieved better outcomes than other photocatalysts to date, and after 180 min, the mineralization of anatoxin-A was virtually complete in weak alkaline medium, whereas only 45% of MC-LR was in neutral conditions. Moreover, photocatalyst reusability is clear for anatoxin-A, but it is adversely affected for MC-LR.