Low-cost heterogeneous composite photocatalyst consisting of TiO2, kaolinite and MMT with improved mechanical strength and photocatalytic activity for industrial wastewater treatment

  • Pitipanage Pasindu Bhanuka Gunarathne College of Chemical Sciences, Institute of Chemistry Ceylon
  • Kohobhange Sujith Prasanna Karunadasa Materials Technology Section, Industrial Technology Institute
Ariticle ID: 597
237 Views, 40 PDF Downloads, 0 Untitled Downloads
Keywords: TiO2, kaolinite, MMT, composite photocatalyst, industrial wastewater treatment

Abstract

The industrially feasible TiO2-clay-based photocatalysts are essential to overcome practical barriers that are inherent to currently available TiO2-based photocatalysts. The current study demonstrates the fabrication of heterogeneous photocatalyst using TiO2, kaolinite, and montmorillonite (TKMCP), which has shown improved catalytic activity and mechanical strength, resulting in an industrially feasible photocatalyst. The TKMCP is prepared in a cost-effective manner using 60% TiO2 and 40% clay with different kaolinite to MMT ratios (1:3 TKMCP1, 1:1 TKMCP2, and 3:1 TKMCP3) by employing mechanical compression and dehydroxylation. The clay ratio predominantly determines the TKMCP mechanical strength and photocatalytic efficiency, where the lowest MMT percentage results in a uniform matrix, in which TiO2 particles are embedded on clay-sheets. The TKMCP surface became uniform when the MMT percentage is low, whereas a high MMT fraction results in a disordered catalytic surface due to large clay fragments and agglomerates. All three composites accounted for more than 85% of the degradation rate, exhibiting pseudo first order kinetics, resulting in high-rate constants, with the highest observed for TKMCP3, which is 1.55 h–1. The TKMCP3 accounts for the highest mechanical strength, which is 5.83 MPa, while the lowest is observed with TKMCP1, indicating that the TKMCP strength decreases significantly with high MMT fraction. TKMCP has several advantages, including easy fabrication, low cost, free of hazardous chemicals, high production capacity with minimal machinery/supervision, non-self-degradability, easy disposal, easy installation in pilot-scale reactors, compatibility with both batch and flow reactors, environmental, and user-friendliness. TKMCP can also be obtained in variable sizes and shapes that ensure dynamic wastewater treatment applications.

Author Biographies

Pitipanage Pasindu Bhanuka Gunarathne, College of Chemical Sciences, Institute of Chemistry Ceylon
College of Chemical Sciences
Kohobhange Sujith Prasanna Karunadasa, Materials Technology Section, Industrial Technology Institute
Materials Technology Section

References

Szczepanik B. Photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants over clay-TiO2 nanocomposites: A review. Applied Clay Science 2017; 141: 227–239. doi: 10.1016/j.clay.2017.02.029

Lazar AM, Varghese S, Nair SS. Photocatalytic water treatment by titanium dioxide: Recent updates. Catalysts 2012; 2(4): 572–601. doi: 10.3390/catal2040572

Shan AY, Ghazi TIM, Rashid SA. Immobilisation of titanium dioxide onto supporting materials in heterogeneous photocatalysis: A review. Applied Catalysis A: General 2010; 389(1–2): 1–8. doi: 10.1016/j.apcata.2010.08.053

Stathatos E, Papoulis D, Aggelopoulos CA, et al. TiO2/palygorskite composite nanocrystalline films prepared by surfactant templating route: Synergistic effect to the photocatalytic degradation of an azo-dye in water. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2012; 211–212: 68–76. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.11.055

Esparza P, Borges ME, Díaz L, et al. Photodegradation of dye pollutants using new nanostructured titania supported on volcanic ashes. Applied Catalysis A: General 2010; 388(1–2): 7–14. doi: 10.1016/j.apcata.2010.07.058

Zhu B, Zou L. Trapping and decomposing of color compounds from recycled water by TiO2 coated activated carbon. Journal of Environmental Management 2009; 90(11): 3217–3225. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.04.008

Djafer L, Ayral A, Ouagued A. Robust synthesis and performance of a titania-based ultrafiltration membrane with photocatalytic properties. Separation and Purification Technology 2010; 75(2): 198–203. doi: 10.1016/j.seppur.2010.08.001

Damodar RA, You SJ, Chou HH. Study the self cleaning, antibacterial and photocatalytic properties of TiO2 entrapped PVDF membranes. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2009: 172(2–3): 1321–1328. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.07.139

Liu L, Liu Z, Bai H, Sun DD. Concurrent filtration and solar photocatalytic disinfection/degradation using high-performance Ag/TiO2 nanofiber membrane. Water Research 2012; 46(4): 1101–1112. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2011.12.009

Bedford NM, Pelaez M, Han C, et al. Photocatalytic cellulosic electrospun fibers for the degradation of potent cyanobacteria toxin microcystin-LR. Journal of Materials Chemistry 2012; 22: 12666–12674. doi: 10.1039/C2JM31597A

Tennakone K, Tilakaratne CTK, Kottegoda IRM. Photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants in water with TiO2 supported on polythene films. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry 1995; 87(2): 177–179. doi: 10.1016/1010-6030(94)03980-9

Tennakone K, Kottegoda IRM. Photocatalytic mineralization of paraquat dissolved in water by TiO2 supported on polythene and polypropylene films. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry 1996; 93(1): 79–81. doi: 10.1016/1010-6030(95)04141-9

Kumara GRRA, Sultanbawa FM, Perera VPS, et al. Continuous flow photochemical reactor for solar decontamination of water using immobilized TiO2. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 1999; 58(2): 167–171. doi: 10.1016/S0927-0248(98)00200-1

Tennakone K, Tilakaratne CTK, Kottegoda IRM. Photomineralization of carbofuran by TiO2-supported catalyst. Water Research 1997; 31(8): 1909–1912. doi: 10.1016/S0043-1354(97)00031-6

Spurr RA, Myers H. Quantitative analysis of anatase-rutile mixtures with an X-ray diffractometer. Analytical Chemistry 1957; 29(5): 760–762. doi: 10.1021/ac60125a006

Karunadasa KSP, Manoratne CH. Microstructural view of anatase to rutile phase transformation examined by in-situ high-temperature X-ray powder diffraction. Journal of Solid State Chemistry 2022; 314: 123377. doi: 10.1016/j.jssc.2022.123377

Temenoff JS, Mikos AG. Biomaterials: The Intersection of Biology and Materials Science, 1st ed. Pearson prentice Hall; 2008.

Alkaykh S, Mbarek A, Ali-Shattle EE. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye in aqueous solution by MnTiO3 nanoparticles under sunlight irradiation. Heliyon 2020; 6: e03663. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03663

Kutláková MK, Tokarský J, Kovář P, et al. Preparation and characterization of photoactive composite kaolinite/TiO2. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2011; 188(1–3): 212–220. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.01.106

Sengyang P, Rangsriwatananon K, Chaisena A. Preparation of zeolite N from metakaolinite by hydrothermal method. Journal of Ceramic Processing Research 2015; 16(1): 111–116.

Meng Y, Gong G, Wei D, Xie Y. In situ high temperature X-ray diffraction study on high strength aluminous porcelain insulator with the Al2O3-SiO2-K2O-Na2O system. Applied Clay Science 2016; 132–133: 760–767. doi: 10.1016/j.clay.2016.07.014

Chakraborty AK. DTA study of preheated kaolinite in the mullite formation region. Thermochimica Acta 2003; 398(1–2): 203–209. doi: 10.1016/S0040-6031(02)00367-2

De Aza AH, Turrillas X, Rodriguez MA, et al. Time-resolved powder neutron diffraction study of the phase transformation sequence of kaolinite to mullite. Journal of the European Ceramic Society 2014; 34(5): 1409–1421. doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2013.10.034

Kasanen J, Salstela J, Suvanto M, Pakkanen TT. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in water solution by multilayer TiO2 coating on HDPE. Applied Surface Science 2011; 258(5): 1738–1743. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.10.028

Al-Rawashdeh NAF, Allabadi O, Aljarrah MT. Photocatalytic activity of graphene oxide/zinc oxide nanocomposites with embedded metal nanoparticles for the degradation of organic dyes. ACS Omega 2020; 5(43): 28046–28055. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c03608

Dharma HNC, Jaafar J, Widiastuti N, et al. A review of titanium dioxide (TiO2)-based photocatalyst for oilfield-produced water treatment. Membranes 2022; 12(3): 345. doi: 10.3390/membranes12030345

Karunadasa KSP, Manoratne CH, Pitawala HMTGA, Rajapakse RMG. A potential working electrode based on graphite and montmorillonite for electrochemical applications in both aqueous and molten salt electrolytes. Electrochemistry Communications 2019; 108: 106562. doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2019.106562

Karunadasa KSP, Rathnayake D, Manoratne C, et al. A binder-free composite of graphite and kaolinite as a stable working electrode for general electrochemical applications. Electrochemical Science Advances 2021; 1(4): e2100003. doi: 10.1002/elsa.202100003

Rathnayake DT, Karunadasa KSP, Wijekoon ASK, et al. Low-cost ternary composite of graphite, kaolinite and cement as a potential working electrode for general electrochemical applications. Chemical Papers 2022; 76: 6653–6658. doi: 10.1007/s11696-022-02314-w

Dlamini MC, Maubane-Nkadimeng MS, Moma JA. The use of TiO2/clay heterostructures in the photocatalytic remediation of water containing organic pollutants: A review. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 2021; 9(6): 106546. doi: 10.1016/j.jece.2021.106546

Published
2023-11-10
How to Cite
Gunarathne, P. P. B., & Karunadasa, K. S. P. (2023). Low-cost heterogeneous composite photocatalyst consisting of TiO2, kaolinite and MMT with improved mechanical strength and photocatalytic activity for industrial wastewater treatment. Insight - Mechanics, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.18282/m.v6i1.597
Section
Article