Catalytic and Ultrasonic-Assisted Catalytic Processes for Environment Remediation: Water, Air and Soil

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 5522

Special Issue Editor

Department of Chemical engineering, Faculty of Process Engineering, University Constantine 3 Salah Boubnider, P.O. Box 72, 25000 Constantine, Algeria
Interests: innovative technologies for water and wastewater treatment; advanced oxidation processes (AOPs); advanced reduction processes (ARPs); ultrasound and sonochemistry; free radicals research and use; energy storage, saving and management; hydrogen energy (production and storage); phase change materials (PCMs) and its application; solar energy and its applications; process modeling and simulation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water pollution, especially by refractory organic pollutants, has become a global environmental problem. How to control the pollution of refractory organics has always been an important research topic in the field of environmental protection. Researchers have conducted in-depth studies on the treatment of wastewater containing refractory organic pollutants. Among the promising technologies, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have made significant progress in the treatment of refractory pollutants in wastewater. AOPs, including photochemical oxidation, Fenton, electrochemical oxidation, photocatalysis, catalytic wet oxidation, sonolysis, etc. Catalytic processes (whether homogeneous or heterogeneous) have received the most attention and have progressed the most. Furthermore, coupling catalytic processes with ultrasound, i.e., sonocatalytic processes, synergistically boosted the treatment process of refractory micropollutants. The benefits of ultrasound are not limited to improving the treatment process; they also extend to catalysts synthesis. The use of high-intensity ultrasound provides a simple and versatile synthetic tool for nanostructured materials that are frequently unavailable through conventional methods. Ultrasound provides control over the size, morphology and nano/microstructure of nanomaterial catalysts, which is always researched in catalytic processes.

This special issue highlights the recent achievements in the area of catalytic and sono-catalytic water treatment processes, including the studies involving ultrasound for the preparation of nanocatalysts. Studies on soil decontamination and air purification by means of catalytic processes are also welcome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Catalysts synthesis and control by ultrasound;
  • Homogenous catalytic processes (Fenton, Fenton-like, electro-Fenton, photo-Fenton, etc.);
  • Heterogeneous catalytic processes (particularly, solar photocatalysis);
  • Hybrid catalytic processes;
  • Catalytic ozonation;
  • Sonocatalytic processes (Sono-Fenton, Sono-Ozonation, sonophotocatalysis, etc.);
  • New emerging catalysts and catalytic processes for environment protection;
  • Upscaling of catalytic processes for water, air and soil decontamination;
  • Economical assessment of catalytic processes;
  • Toxicity assessment of effluents treated with catalytic processes;
  • Catalytic processes in microreactors.

Prof. Dr. Slimane Merouani
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • organic pollution
  • water, air and soil decontamination
  • advanced oxidation processes (AOPs)
  • catalytic processes
  • hybrid catalytic processes
  • sonocatalytic processes

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5786 KiB  
Article
The Sonocatalytic Activation of Persulfates on Iron Nanoparticle Decorated Zeolite for the Degradation of 1,4-Dioxane in Aquatic Environments
by Surya Teja Malkapuram, Shirish Hari Sonawane, Manoj P. Rayaroth, Murali Mohan Seepana, Sivakumar Manickam, Jakub Karczewski and Grzegorz Boczkaj
Catalysts 2023, 13(7), 1065; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal13071065 - 01 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1199
Abstract
In the chemical industry, 1,4-diethylene dioxide, commonly called dioxane, is widely used as a solvent as well as a stabilizing agent for chlorinated solvents. Due to its high miscibility, dioxane is a ubiquitous water contaminant. This study investigates the effectiveness of catalyst- and [...] Read more.
In the chemical industry, 1,4-diethylene dioxide, commonly called dioxane, is widely used as a solvent as well as a stabilizing agent for chlorinated solvents. Due to its high miscibility, dioxane is a ubiquitous water contaminant. This study investigates the effectiveness of catalyst- and ultrasound (US)-assisted persulfate (PS) activation with regard to degrading dioxane. As a first step, a composite catalyst was prepared using zeolite. A sonochemical dispersion and reduction method was used to dope zeolite with iron nanoparticles (FeNP/Z). In the subsequent study, the reaction kinetics of dioxane degradation following the single-stage and two-stage addition of PS was examined in the presence of a catalyst. Using GC-MS analysis, intermediate compounds formed from dioxane degradation were identified, and plausible reaction pathways were described. Upon 120 min of sonication in the presence of a catalyst with a two-stage injection of PS, 95% 100 mg/L dioxane was degraded. Finally, the estimated cost of treatment is also reported in this study. Sonolytically activated PS combined with a FeNP/Z catalyst synergizes the remediation of biorefractory micropollutants such as dioxane. Full article
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15 pages, 2915 KiB  
Article
Solar Chlorine Activation for Efficient Rhodamine B Removal in Strong Basic pH: Processing Conditions, Radicals Probing, and TiO2 Nanocatalyst Effect
by Hana Bouchoucha, Salim Bekkouche, Slimane Merouani, Aissa Dehane and Oualid Hamdaoui
Catalysts 2023, 13(6), 942; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal13060942 - 27 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1322
Abstract
In recent years, there has been growing interest in the application of UV/chlorine advanced oxidation processes for wastewater treatment. However, few studies have investigated this process in a strongly basic medium (pH > 10), which is a common characteristic of many industrial effluents. [...] Read more.
In recent years, there has been growing interest in the application of UV/chlorine advanced oxidation processes for wastewater treatment. However, few studies have investigated this process in a strongly basic medium (pH > 10), which is a common characteristic of many industrial effluents. In addition, the use of artificial UV lamps in these processes can be costly. To address these challenges, we investigated the use of solar light (referred to as Solar-L) in the Solar-L/chlorine process for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) in a strongly basic medium (pH 11). We found that separate solar light or chlorination showed no degradation after half an hour, but the Solar-L/chlorine process effectively degraded RhB, with complete removal achieved in only 30 min, using 1000 µM ClO. The process also resulted in a significant reduction of TOC, i.e., 60% after 120 min and 80% after 240 min. Our results indicate that both OH/O•− and reactive chlorine species (RCS) were involved in the degradation process, while O3 played no role. The process performance improved with the decreasing initial contaminant concentration and increasing temperature (up to 55 °C). The addition of a TiO2 nanocatalyst to the Solar-L/chlorine system significantly improved the RhB degradation efficiency by more than 30%. It was found that neither adsorption (on TiO2) nor Solar-L/TiO2 photolysis contributed to the dye removal by the Solar-L/chlorine/TiO2 system. Instead, the improvement associated with the Solar-L/chlorine/TiO2 system was related to the involvement of hypochlorite in the photocatalytic reaction at the catalyst surface. A detailed discussion of the effect of TiO2 was carried out based on the physicochemical properties of RhB and TiO2 catalyst with respect to the solution’s pH. In conclusion, this study highlights the potential of solar light as a sustainable and efficient technology for the treatment of polluted water in strong basic media in the presence of chlorine and chlorine/TiO2 as additives. These valuable findings provide a basis for the future research and development of this promising technology for water treatment applications. Full article
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14 pages, 2630 KiB  
Article
Removal of Safranin O from Water by UV/TiO2/IO3 Advanced Oxidation Process: Parametric Study and Impact of Inorganic Ions and Humic Acid
by Meriem Bendjama, Oualid Hamdaoui, Hamza Ferkous and Abdulaziz Alghyamah
Catalysts 2023, 13(2), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal13020447 - 19 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1119
Abstract
In the present paper, the influence of iodate (IO3) ions on the photocatalytic process using titanium dioxide (UV/TiO2) was systematically examined. The innovative studied system (UV/TiO2/IO3) demonstrated high performance in the elimination of [...] Read more.
In the present paper, the influence of iodate (IO3) ions on the photocatalytic process using titanium dioxide (UV/TiO2) was systematically examined. The innovative studied system (UV/TiO2/IO3) demonstrated high performance in the elimination of safranin O (SO), a model dye, from water due to the implication of iodine radicals (IO3, IO2, IO, etc.). The degradation was assessed by monitoring the change in initial substrate concentration (5–30 mg∙L−1), TiO2 loading (0.01–3 g∙L−1), IO3 concentration, liquid temperature, and initial pH. Further enhancement of oxyanion amount was beneficial for the initial rate of degradation (r0) over the range 0.1–50 mM, such that r0 rose from 0.724 to 1.12 mg∙L−1∙min−1. However, a concentration of 100 mM IO3 slowed the removal kinetics. Low pH values were found to be favorable for pollutant removal. Furthermore, a variety of inorganic and organic substances was employed to clarify the effect of the UV/TiO2/IO3 process in natural waters. The findings revealed a negative impact of chloride excess in seawater and a decline in SO degradation in mineral water as a result of HCO3 presence at more than 1 mM. At high concentrations of natural organic matter, the heterogeneity and the strong adsorption of humic acid on the TiO2 surface were found to be harmful for SO decay. Full article
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19 pages, 5249 KiB  
Article
High Performance Carbon Material Prepared from Phalsa Using Mild Pyrolytic Process towards Photodegradation of Methylene Blue under the Irradiation of UV Light
by Sameerah I. Al-Saeedi, Muhammad Ali Bhatti, Aneela Tahira, Ghadah M. Al-Senani, Nada S. Al-Kadhi, Ayman Nafady and Zafar Hussain Ibupoto
Catalysts 2023, 13(2), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal13020365 - 07 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1448
Abstract
In this study, we have used a mild pyrolytic process for the synthesis of luminescent carbon material from phalsa (Grewia asiatica Linn) and utilized it for the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under the irradiation of ultraviolet (UV) light. The [...] Read more.
In this study, we have used a mild pyrolytic process for the synthesis of luminescent carbon material from phalsa (Grewia asiatica Linn) and utilized it for the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under the irradiation of ultraviolet (UV) light. The carbon material was found to be graphitic in nature and with carbon dot-like properties as demonstrated by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and UV-visible techniques. The prepared carbon material was further studied for the elucidation of functional groups through Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. The carbon material exhibits the nanostructured phase which makes it a high surface area material for useful surface reactions. Different photodegradation aspects were investigated, such as initial dye concentration, catalyst dose, effect of pH of dye solution, reusability, electrochemical active surface area (ECSA), and charge transfer and scavenger. Optimum conditions of 15 mg carbon material, initial dye concentration of 2.3 × 10−5 M solution, and pH 5 of dye solution gave the highest outperformance degradation efficiency. The degradation mechanism of MB in aqueous solution was dominated by the hydroxyl radicals as verified by the scavenger study. The reaction kinetics of MB degradation was followed by the pseudo first order kinetics and highest values of rate constants in the low initial dye concentration and the acidic pH of the MB solution. Significantly, the carbon material prepared from phalsa was found to be highly stable, as proven by the reusability experiments. Furthermore, the high ECSA and low charge transfer resistance of carbon material enabled it to have better performance. The use of mild pyrolytic process for the preparation of high performance luminescent carbon material from the biomass could be a great roadmap for the synthesis of a new generation of carbon materials for a wide range of applications including bio-imaging, catalysis, energy conversion and environmental applications. Full article
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