Magnetically recoverable ZrO2/Fe3O4/chitosan nanomaterials for enhanced sunlight driven photoreduction of carcinogenic Cr(VI) and dechlorination & mineralization of 4-chlorophenol from simulated waste water

Amit Kumar; Changsheng Guo; Gaurav Sharma; Deepak Pathania; Mu Naushad; Susheel Kalia; Pooja Dhiman

doi:10.1039/C5RA23372K

Magnetically recoverable ZrO₂/Fe₃O₄/chitosan nanomaterials for enhanced sunlight driven photoreduction of carcinogenic Cr(vi) and dechlorination & mineralization of 4-chlorophenol from simulated waste water†

Amit Kumar,*^a Changsheng Guo,^d Gaurav Sharma,^a Deepak Pathania,^a Mu Naushad,^c Susheel Kalia^b and Pooja Dhiman^e

* Corresponding authors

^a School of Chemistry, Shoolini University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
E-mail: mittuchem83@gmail.com
Tel: +91 9625310313

^b Department of Chemistry, Army Cadet College Wing, Indian Military Academy, Dehradun – 248007, UK, India

^c Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Building#5, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

^d State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China

^e Department of Physics, IEC University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

In this laboratory-scale experiment we report the treatment of carcinogenic Cr(VI) and 4-chlorophenol by ferromagnetic ZrO₂/Fe₃O₄ nano-heterojunctions supported on chitosan. A combination of different semiconductors with different photo-activities has proven to be a tested and effective technique for harnessing solar light in waste water treatment. The prepared heterojunction and its composite with chitosan has been characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra Red spectroscopy (FTIR), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Small Area Electron Diffraction (SAED), Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM), Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), UV-visible spectrophotometry and Brunauer–Emmet–Teller surface area analysis (BET). Treatment of chlorophenols is challenging because of their hydrophobicity and stability. In our study we have reported excellent results for the dechlorination of 4-chlorophenol and the results were analyzed in terms of Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), Chemical Oxygen Demand analysis (COD) and emission. 88.6% of 4-CP degradation was achieved in the presence of ZrO₂/Fe₃O₄/chitosan in 3 h under sunlight and a reduction of 90.2% for Cr(VI) was obtained. The heterojunction formation leads to charge separation and decreased recombination of charge carriers. The synergistic effects of charge separation in the heterojunction, alcohols, peroxide, magnetism and adsorption with essential explanation of mechanisms make this study important and promising.

This article is part of the themed collection: Removal of chromium from aqueous solutions

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA23372K
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 06 Nov 2015
Accepted: 22 Jan 2016
First published: 26 Jan 2016

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RSC Adv., 2016,6, 13251-13263

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Magnetically recoverable ZrO₂/Fe₃O₄/chitosan nanomaterials for enhanced sunlight driven photoreduction of carcinogenic Cr(VI) and dechlorination & mineralization of 4-chlorophenol from simulated waste water

A. Kumar, C. Guo, G. Sharma, D. Pathania, M. Naushad, S. Kalia and P. Dhiman, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 13251 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA23372K

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