Abstract
Humic acid (HA) is the most important precursor of toxic disinfection byproducts upon chlorination. Removing HA from water body is therefore critical in drinking water acquisition. In this research, ZnO nanoparticles are employed for photocatalysis under UV light at neutral pH to remove HA from a water environment. Almost 100% degradation of HA was achieved using 0.3 g/L of ZnO in 180 min with UV-A and UV-C light. Under identical experimental conditions, total organic carbon (TOC) removals reach 67% and 21% with UV-A and UV-C light, respectively. A higher degree of mineralization of HA is achieved with UV-A light although the degradation of HA is slightly better with UV-C light. This indicates that ZnO/UV-A has relatively low selectivity to degrade different compounds, including various intermediates from HA degradation. The use of UV-A light is therefore recommended for ZnO as it possesses higher mineralization ability. Negligible TOC is observed on the ZnO surface after photocatalytic reactions. In contrast, the adsorption of HA in dark conditions reaches 42% in 180 min. This strongly indicates that the adsorption of HA plays an important role in the photocatalytic degradation of HA, but it is not the main process for HA removal.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Present study data are available with corresponding author and are available on reasonable request.
References
Akpan U, Hameed B (2009) Parameters affecting the photocatalytic degradation of dyes using TiO2-based photocatalysts: a review. J Hazard Mater 170:520–529
Al-Rasheed R. & Cardin D.J. 2003 Photocatalytic degradation of humic acid in saline waters: part 2. Effects of various photocatalytic materials, Appl Catal A, 246: 39-48.
Babel S, Sekartaji PA, Sudrajat H (2016) TiO2 as an effective nanocatalyst for photocatalytic degradation of humic acid in water environment. J Water Supply Res Technol AQUA 66:25–35
Birben N, Paganini M, Calza P, Bekbolet M (2016) Photocatalytic degradation of humic acid using a novel photocatalyst: Ce-doped ZnO. Photochem Photobiol Sci 16:24–30
Butalid RJB, Cristobal APS, Montallana ADS, Vasquez MR Jr (2020) Stability of TiO2-coated ZnO photocatalytic thin films for photodegradation of methylene blue. J Vac Sci Technol B 38(6):062205
Chouchene B, Chaabane TB, Balan L, Girot E, Mozet K, Medjahdi G, Schneider R (2016) High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis. Beilstein J Nanotechnol 7(1):1338–1349
George S, Pokhrel S, Xia T, Gilbert B, Ji ZX, Schowalter M, Rosenauer A, Damoiseaux R, Bradley KA, Madler L, Nel AE (2010) Use of a rapid cytotoxicity screening approach to engineer a safer zinc oxide nanoparticle through iron doping. ACS Nano 4(1):15–29
Ghaneian MT, Morovati P, Ehrampoush MH, Tabatabaee M (2014) Humic acid degradation by the synthesized flower-like Ag/ZnO nanostructure as an efficient photocatalyst. J Environ Health Sci Eng 12:1–7
Han J, Qiu W, Gao W (2010) Potential dissolution and photo-dissolution of ZnO thin films. J Hazard Mater 178(1-3):115–122
He Y (2013) Titanium dioxide-mediated photocatalytic degradation of humic acid under natural sunlight. Water Environ Res 85:3–12
Hepplewhite C, Newcombe G, Knappe D (2004) NOM and MIB, who wins in the competition for activated carbon adsorption sites? Water Sci Technol 49:257–265
Hwang R, Mirshafiee V, Zhua Y, Xia T (2018) Current approaches for safer design of engineered nanomaterials. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 166(30):294–300
Khan SH, Pathak B (2020) Zinc oxide based photocatalytic degradation of persistent pesticides: a comprehensive review. Enviro Nanotechnol Monit Manag 13:100290
Khan SB, Faisal M, Rahman MM, Jamal A (2011) Low-temperature growth of ZnO nanoparticles: photocatalyst and acetone sensor. Talanta 85:943–949
Kim JK, Alajmy J, Borges AC, Joo JC, Ahn H, Campos LC (2013) Degradation of humic acid by photocatalytic reaction using nano-sized ZnO/laponite composite (NZLC). Water Air Soil Pollut 224:1–10
Lee KM, Lai CW, Ngai KS, Juan JC (2016) Recent developments of zinc oxide based photocatalyst in water treatment technology: a review. Water Res 88:428–448
Liang L, Singer PC (2003) Factors influencing the formation and relative distribution of haloacetic acids and trihalomethanes in drinking water. Environ Sci Technol 37:2920–2928
Nosaka Y, Nosaka A (2016) Understanding hydroxyl radical (•OH) generation processes in photocatalysis. ACS Energy Lett 1:356–359
Oskoei V, Dehghani M, Nazmara S, Heibati B, Asif M, Tyagi I, Agarwal S, Gupta VK (2016) Removal of humic acid from aqueous solution using UV/ZnO nano-photocatalysis and adsorption. J Mol Liq 213:374–380
Qin H, Li W, Xia Y, He T (2011) Photocatalytic activity of heterostructures based on ZnO and N-doped ZnO. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 3:3152–3156
Sudrajat H, Babel S (2016a) Comparison and mechanism of photocatalytic activities of N-ZnO and N-ZrO2 for the degradation of rhodamine 6G. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:10177–10188
Sudrajat H, Babel S (2016b) A new, cost-effective solar photoactive system N-ZnO@ polyester fabric for degradation of recalcitrant compound in a continuous flow reactor. Mater Res Bull 83:369–378
Sudrajat H, Babel S (2016c) Rapid photocatalytic degradation of the recalcitrant dye amaranth by highly active N-WO3. Environ Chem Lett 14:243–249
Sudrajat H, Babel S (2016d) An innovative solar photoactive system N-WO3@ polyester fabric for degradation of amaranth in a thin-film fixed-bed reactor. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 149:294–303
Sudrajat H, Babel S (2019) Ultrahigh photoactivity of ZnO nanoparticles for decomposition of high-concentration microcystin-LR in water environment. Int J Environ Sci Technol 16:695–706
Sudrajat H, Sujaridworakun P (2017) Low-temperature synthesis of δ-Bi2O3 hierarchical nanostructures composed of ultrathin nanosheets for efficient photocatalysis. Mater Des 130:501–511
Sudrajat H, Babel S, Sakai H, Takizawa S (2016) Rapid enhanced photocatalytic degradation of dyes using novel N-doped ZrO2. J Environ Manag 165:224–234
Wiszniowski J, Robert D, Surmacz-Gorska J, Miksch K, Weber JV (2003) Photocatalytic mineralization of humic acids with TiO2: effect of pH, sulfate and chloride anions. Int J Photoenergy 5:69–74
Funding
This research was supported by the scholarship granted by the Asian Development Bank through Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University to Putri A. Sekartaji.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Sandhya Babel, the corresponding author, planned and supervised the research and also corrected the manuscript. Putri A. Sekartaji conducted the research. Hanggara Sudrajat wrote the draft manuscript and also helped in revision.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals.
Consent to participate
Not applicable
Consent to publish
Not applicable
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Sami Rtimi
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Babel, S., Sekartaji, P.A. & Sudrajat, H. ZnO nanoparticles for photodegradation of humic acid in water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 31163–31173 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12977-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12977-9