ZnO nanoparticles for photodegradation of humic acid in water

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 wa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science and pollution research international 2021-06, Vol.28 (24), p.31163-31173
Main Authors: Babel, Sandhya, Sekartaji, Putri A., Sudrajat, Hanggara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Aquatic Pollution
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Catalysis
chlorination
Disinfection
Drinking water
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental degradation
Environmental Health
Environmental science
Humic acids
Humic Substances - analysis
Hydroxyapatite
Intermediates
Light
Mineralization
Nanoparticles
Organic carbon
Photocatalysis
Photodegradation
Photolysis
Research Article
Selectivity
surface water
Total organic carbon
toxicity
Ultraviolet radiation
Ultraviolet Rays
Waste Water Technology
Water
Water bodies
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
Water Purification
Zinc Oxide
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:0944-1344
1614-7499
DOI:10.1007/s11356-021-12977-9