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Reconsideration of the contribution of photogenerated ROS in methyl orange degradation on TiO2, Cu2O, WO3, and Bi2O3 under low-intensity simulated solar light: mechanistic understanding of photocatalytic activity

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Abstract

In our study, the effectiveness of photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) in the presence of several catalysts under simulated solar light was studied. A comparative study was conducted between four different catalysts (TiO2, Cu2O, WO3, and Bi2O3) to assess their photocatalytic activities by varying the illumination time. The photodegradation was examined through quantification of the photogenerated reactive oxygen species (ROS). In situ photogenerated hydroxyl radicals (⦁OH) were detected with terephthalic acid (TA) dosimetry based on fluorescence spectroscopy. Therefore, the concentration of ⦁OH was expressed according to the relative fluorescence intensity. Moreover, proof of a nonlinear relationship connecting the kinetics of the photocatalytic degradation of MO and the generation of ⦁OH radicals was demonstrated using coefficients of determination (R2). This brought new insights regarding the mechanism of the photocatalytic activity. Our findings indicate that the generated ⦁OH radicals from heterogeneous photocatalytic systems are not the unique factor involved in organic pollutant elimination; the double metal structure of metal oxides should also be taken into consideration.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to give a warm thanks to Thomas HULL (UniLaSalle-Ecole des Métiers de l’Environnement) for proofreading this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Engineering Reaction, USTHB BP 32, Algiers, Algeria

    Rachida Bouallouche & Noureddine Nasrallah

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Maroua, P.O. Box 814, Maroua, Cameroon

    Sadou Dalhatou

  3. UniLaSalle-Ecole des Métiers de l’Environnement, Campus de Ker Lann, Avenue Robert Schuman, 35170, Bruz, France

    Abdoulaye Kane

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Research Unit Materials, Processes and Environment URMPE, University M’hamed Bougara of Boumerdes / FSI, Frantz Fanon City, Indépendance Avenue, 35000, Boumerdes, Algeria

    Messaoud Hachemi

  5. Univ. Rennes, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, CNRS, ISCR–UMR 6226, 35000, Rennes, France

    Abdeltif Amrane & Aymen Amine Assadi

Authors
  1. Rachida Bouallouche
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  2. Sadou Dalhatou
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  3. Abdoulaye Kane
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  4. Noureddine Nasrallah
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  6. Abdeltif Amrane
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  7. Aymen Amine Assadi
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Correspondence to Abdoulaye Kane.

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Responsible Editor: Chedly Tizaoui.

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Bouallouche, R., Dalhatou, S., Kane, A. et al. Reconsideration of the contribution of photogenerated ROS in methyl orange degradation on TiO2, Cu2O, WO3, and Bi2O3 under low-intensity simulated solar light: mechanistic understanding of photocatalytic activity. Euro-Mediterr J Environ Integr 6, 70 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-021-00276-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-021-00276-1

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