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New Sustainable Materials for Photocatalysis
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New Sustainable Materials for Photocatalysis

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (12 July 2021) | Viewed by 6704

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zeynep Eren

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey
Interests: water–wastewater treatment; advanced oxidation processes; ultrasonic oxidation of micropollutants; photocatalytic destruction of micropollutants; preparation of nanocatalysts for water remediation; climate change; solid waste management
Dr. Başak Savun-Hekimoğlu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Marine Sciences and Management, İstanbul University, 34470 Istanbul, Turkey
Interests: physicochemical processes in water and wastewater treatment; advanced oxidation processes (AOPs); integration of ultrasound techniques into advanced water treatment processes; removal of micropollutants from aquatic environments; analysis of harmful wastes and removal from the environment; decolorization of textile process wastewater; breaking down endocrine disruptors and drug wastes by ultrasound assisted flocculation and advanced oxidation processes; synthesis, improvement, and use of metallic nanoparticles in water treatment; water resource management; multicriteria decision making in environmental issues; statistical design of experiments and response surface methodology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

An increasing number of contaminants such as heavy metal ions, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products, dyes, and organic chemicals in natural water sources are dangerous to the environment and humans. All of those water pollutants can be introduced to the environment via multiple pathways, among them disposals from industries, hospital effluents, domestic wastewater, sewage treatment plants, and water treatment plants. Photocatalysis, as an advanced oxidation proces, has been proven to be a capable method for advanced treatment of these contaminants due to the oxidation of persistent contaminants to the end products with low-cost, low-energy consumption. HoweverBut, traditional photocatalysts are losing their popularity due to their toxicity and incapability to regenerate, as well as their high cost. Research efforts have focused on the development of new catalysts from sustainable materials with a wider range of light absorption for better use of sunlight and its incorporation through nanostructured films on various supports in integrated photocatalytic reactor systems in order to overcome technological challenges. For this reason, the trend is to enhance the photocatalytic oxidation process by synthesizing new, sustainable, and nontoxic materials.

This Special Issue on “New Sustainable Materials for Photocatalysis” aims to collect and present all breakthrough research on the synthesis and use of photocatalysts from sustainable materials. The scope of this Special Issue covers but is not limited to the following topics:

  • Synthesis of new sustainable materials for photocatalysis;
  • Photocatalytic destruction of emerging pollutants from water and wastewater;
  • Photocatalytic oxidation of micropollutants; reaction pathway, byproducts, end products, etc.;
  • Advantegous of newly synthesized photocalatysts over traditional nanocatalysts;
  • Use of photocatalytic oxidation with other advanced oxidation porcesses (AOPs);
  • Photolytic and photocatalytic treatment technologies for wastewater, freshwater, and groundwater.

Prof. Dr. Zeynep Eren
Dr. Başak Savun-Hekimoğlu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • photocatalysis
  • sustainable photocatalyst
  • photocatalyst synthesis
  • micropollutants
  • emerging pollutants
  • water treatment
  • wastewater treatment

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 47050 KiB  
Article
Biomimetic Synthesis, Characterization, and Evaluation of Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer, Photoluminescence, and Photocatalytic Activity of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles
by Udari Wijesinghe, Gobika Thiripuranathar, Haroon Iqbal and Farid Menaa
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2004; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042004 - 12 Feb 2021
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 3993
Abstract
Owing to the development of nanotechnology, biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) is gaining considerable attention as a cost-effective and eco-friendly approach that minimizes the effects of toxic chemicals used in NP fabrication. The present work reports low-cost phytofabrication of zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs employing [...] Read more.
Owing to the development of nanotechnology, biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) is gaining considerable attention as a cost-effective and eco-friendly approach that minimizes the effects of toxic chemicals used in NP fabrication. The present work reports low-cost phytofabrication of zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs employing aqueous extracts of various parts (leaves, stems, and inflorescences) of Tephrosia purpurea (T. purpurea). The formation, structure, morphology, and other physicochemical properties of ZnO NPs were characterized by ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). UV–Vis spectral analysis revealed sharp surface plasmon resonance (SPR) at around 250–280 nm, while the XRD patterns confirmed distinctive peaks indices to the crystalline planes of hexagonal wurtzite ZnO NPs. TEM analysis confirmed the presence of spherical-shaped ZnO NPs with average particle sizes (PS) between 25–35 nm, which was in agreement with the XRD results. FTIR analysis revealed that phenolics, flavonoids, amides, alkaloids, and amines present in the plant extract are responsible for the stabilization of the ZnO NPs. Further, the hydrodynamic diameter in the range of 85–150 nm was measured using the DLS technique. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) ability of biogenic ZnO NPs was evaluated, and the highest efficiency was found in ZnO NPs synthesized via T. purpurea inflorescences extract. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of biogenic ZnO NPs showed three emission peaks consisting of a UV–Vis region with high-intensity compared to that of chemically synthesized ZnO NPs. The biosynthesized ZnO NPs showed photocatalytic activity under solar irradiation by enhancing the degradation rate of methylene blue (MB). Among the prepared biogenic ZnO NPs, T. purpurea leaves mediated with NPs acted as the most effective photocatalyst, with a maximum degradation efficiency of 98.86% and a half-life of 84.7 min. This is the first report related to the synthesis of multifunctional ZnO NPs using T. purpurea, with interesting characteristics for various potential applications in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Sustainable Materials for Photocatalysis)
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16 pages, 4061 KiB  
Article
Photocatalytic Destruction of Caffeine on Sepiolite-Supported TiO2 Nanocomposite
by Başak Savun-Hekimoğlu, Zeynep Eren and Nilsun H. Ince
Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10314; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410314 - 10 Dec 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2137
Abstract
The study is about the degradation of a common pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) caffeine by photocatalysis under UV–visible light using pristine TiO2 (P-25) and a lab-made nanocomposite of sepiolite–TiO2. It was found that the dark adsorption of caffeine [...] Read more.
The study is about the degradation of a common pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) caffeine by photocatalysis under UV–visible light using pristine TiO2 (P-25) and a lab-made nanocomposite of sepiolite–TiO2. It was found that the dark adsorption of caffeine on P-25 was insignificant, but considerably high on the nanocomposite, owing to the high porosity and unique structure of sepiolite. The degradation of the compound in the presence of P-25 and Sep–TiO2 followed the pseudo-first order and exponential decay kinetics, with a rate constant of 0.12 min−1 and 0.50 min−1, respectively. The efficiency of both catalysts for carbon mineralization was better at acidic pH, but that of the nanocomposite was significantly higher at all pH than that of the unmodified P-25 (36.1 against 9.6% at pH 6.0). The loading of TiO2 on sepiolite was an important factor in the activity of the catalyst, as the maximum activity was observed at a loading ratio of 12.5 mmol per g sepiolite, which decreased at higher ratios of the semiconductor to sepiolite. Exposure of the treated samples to high-frequency ultrasound at pH 6 was found to enhance the degree of mineralization to 65.1 and 52.1% in the presence of the nanocomposite and P-25, respectively. The outcome was attributed to the unique properties of ultrasound for the cleaning of solid surfaces, for enhancing the mass transfer of solutes to heterogeneous interfaces, and for generation of excess hydroxyl radicals. Finally, the nanocomposite was found to be considerably stable, as it was easily recovered and used four times without a significant loss in activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Sustainable Materials for Photocatalysis)
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