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ZnO-chitosan/Rectorite Nanocomposite Exhibiting High Photocatalytic Activities under Visible-light Irradiation

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Abstract

Chitosan (CS), hydrated zinc acetate, and rectorite (REC) were used as raw materials to prepare CS-embedded zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle by a chemical precipitation process. Hydrogen-bonded REC-loaded ZnO-CS nanoparticle was to form ZnO-CS/REC nanocomposite photocatalyst, its morphology and structure were analyzed by means of FTIR, XRD, TGA, SEM, and TEM. The effects of the catalyst dosage, methyl orange (MO) initial concentration and solution pH on photocatalytic performance were also discussed. The experimental results show that the ZnO-CS/REC nanocomposite has a particle size of 100 nm with good dispersion and uniformity. Under irradiation of visible light, 0.6 g/L photocatalyst was used to degrade MO in solution for 90 min at pH 6, then the MO solution (10 mg/L) was decolored by more than 99%, indicating that the ZnO-CS/REC nanocomposite exhibited highly photocatalytic degradation activity. Therefore, the photodegradation kinetic mechanism of MO in aqueous solution is presumed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Ocean and Bio-chemical Engineering, Fujian provincial Key Lab of Coastal Basin Environment, Fuqing Branch of Fujian Normal University, Fuqing, 350300, China

    Shiqian Li  (李世迁), Qinghua Chen  (陈庆华) & Sheng Chen

  2. Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei City 10673, Taiwan, China

    Pen-Chi Chiang

  3. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430081, China

    Ling Ding

  4. College of Urban Construction, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211800, China

    Kinjal J. Shah

  5. Engineering Research Center of Polymer Green Recycling, Ministry of Education (Fujian Normal University), Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Qinghua Chen  (陈庆华)

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  1. Shiqian Li  (李世迁)
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  2. Pen-Chi Chiang
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  3. Ling Ding
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  4. Kinjal J. Shah
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  5. Qinghua Chen  (陈庆华)
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  6. Sheng Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qinghua Chen  (陈庆华).

Additional information

Funded by the National Key Research and Development Project (2019YFC1908204), the Fund of Key Laboratory of Measurement and Control System for Offshore Environment (Fuqing Branch of Fujian Normal University) (No. SI-KF1604), the Key Project of Science and Technology Department of Fujian Province(No.2018H0013), the Key Natural Fund Project of Universities in Fujian Province (No. JZ160490), and the Fuqing Branch of Fujian Normal University Cultivation Project (Nos. KY2017NS06, KY201609)

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Li, S., Chiang, PC., Ding, L. et al. ZnO-chitosan/Rectorite Nanocomposite Exhibiting High Photocatalytic Activities under Visible-light Irradiation. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol.-Mat. Sci. Edit. 35, 310–319 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-020-2258-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-020-2258-9

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