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Water Depollution Using Ferrites Photocatalysts

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Green Materials for Energy, Products and Depollution

Part of the book series: Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World ((ECSW,volume 3))

Abstract

The presence of organic pollutants and pathogenic microorganisms in water has become an increasing concern throughout the world. Heterogeneous photocatalytic technologies have been applied to control the organic pollutants and microorganisms in water. Development of narrow band-gap photocatalysts which function in the visible light remains a challenge in the wastewater treatment processes. Spinel ferrites has attracted a remarkable attention because of a relatively narrow band gap of about 2.0 eV, which has considerable photo-response in the visible light region. This chapter reviews recent advances in ferrites and the application of visible light photocatalysts to the remediation of contaminants such as H2S, phenols, and dyes in water. Recent development in synthesis and characterization of ferrite and hybrid ferrites with other semiconductors is reviewed. The applications of ferrites in photocatalytic conversion of visible solar energy to generate e–/h+, which in turn produce reactive oxygen species through redox processes for the degradation of the pollutants in water, are demonstrated. We discuss the enhanced visible photocatalytic activity of ferrites by doping with metals and combing with other photocatalysts. Moreover, the addition of H2O2 to ferrite either in dark or visible light irradiation indicates the enhanced degradation efficiency for organic pollutants.

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Acknowledgements

V.K. Sharma and D.D. Dionysiou acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation grant (CBET 1236331) for ferrite research. C. He wishes to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 20877025), National Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. S2011010001836) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 09lgpy20).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Ferrate Excellence and Chemistry Department, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Boulevard, Florida, 32901, USA

    Virender K. Sharma

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Chun He

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan

    Ruey-an Doong

  4. Environmental Engineering and Science Program, 705 Engineering Research Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0012, USA

    Dionysios D. Dionysiou

Authors
  1. Virender K. Sharma
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  2. Chun He
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  3. Ruey-an Doong
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  4. Dionysios D. Dionysiou
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Correspondence to Virender K. Sharma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Agroécologie, UMR, Dijon, France

    Eric Lichtfouse

  2. Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany

    Jan Schwarzbauer

  3. ICPEES, Université de Lorraine, Saint-Avold, France

    Didier Robert

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Sharma, V.K., He, C., Doong, Ra., Dionysiou, D.D. (2013). Water Depollution Using Ferrites Photocatalysts. In: Lichtfouse, E., Schwarzbauer, J., Robert, D. (eds) Green Materials for Energy, Products and Depollution. Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6836-9_4

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