Prewetting Induced Hydrophilicity to Augment Photocatalytic Activity of Nanocalcite @ Polyester Fabric

• Published in: Polymers 2022-01, Vol.14 (2), p.295
• Main Authors: Qayyum, Ayesha, Bhatti, Ijaz Ahmad, Ashar, Ambreen, Jilani, Asim, Iqbal, Javed, Mohsin, Muhammad, Ishaq, Tehmeena, Muhammad, Shabbir, Wageh, S, Dustgeer, Mohsin Raza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalytic activity; Caustic soda; Charge density; Contact angle; Crystal structure; Energy gap; Functional groups; Hydrochloric acid; Hydrophilicity; Hydrophobic surfaces; Hydrothermal crystal growth; Hydroxyl groups; Imidacloprid; Insecticides; Investigations; Low temperature; Metal oxides; Oxidizing agents; Photocatalysis; Photodegradation; Pollutants; Polyesters; Polyethylene terephthalate; Potash; Potassium; Response surface methodology; Seeds; Surface charge; Surface roughness; Textiles; Wastewater; Zeta potential
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym14020295

To eliminate imidacloprid insecticide from wastewater, nanocalcite was grafted onto the surface of pretreated polyester fabric. The process of seeding was followed by the low temperature hydrothermal method for the growth of nanocalcite for the functionalization of fabric. The goal of this study was to improve the hydrophilicity of the nanocalcite photocatalyst that had been grafted onto the surface of polyester fabric (PF) using acidic and basic prewetting techniques. The morphological characteristics, crystalline nature, surface charge density, functional groups of surface-modified nanocalcite @ PF were determined via SEM, XRD, FTIR, and Zeta potential (ZP), respectively. Characterization results critically disclosed surface roughness due to excessive induction of hydroxyl groups, rhombohedral crystal structure, and high charge density (0.721 mS/cm). Moreover, contact angle of nanocalcite @ PF was calculated to be 137.54° while after acidic and basic prewetting, it was reduced to 87.17° and 48.19°. Similarly, bandgap of the as fabricated nanocalcite was found to be 3.5 eV, while basic prewetted PF showed a reduction in band gap (2.9 eV). The solar photocatalytic mineralization of imidacloprid as a probe pollutant was used to assess the improvement in photocatalytic activity of nanocalcite @ PF after prewetting. Response surface methodology was used to statistically optimize the solar exposure time, concentration of the oxidant, and initial pH of the reaction mixture. Maximum solar photocatalytic degradation of the imidacloprid was achieved by basic prewetted nanocalcite @ PF (up to 91.49%), which was superior to acidic prewetted fabric and as-fabricated nanocalcite @ PF. Furthermore, HPLC and FTIR findings further indicated that imidacloprid was decomposed vastly to harmless species by basic prewetted nanocalcite @ PF.