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Cu(II)/Bi2O3 Photocatalysis for Toxicity Reduction of Atrazine in Water Environment under Different Light Wavelengths

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Abstract

Cu(II)/Bi2O3 photocatalyst was successfully synthesized through a simple sol-gel route. The photocatalyst was characterized by synchrotron-based techniques including X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and other techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Its photocatalytic activity was evaluated for degradation and mineralization of atrazine in aqueous solutions under different light wavelengths (visible, UVA, UVB and UVC). The toxicity of photocatalytically treated atrazine solution was comprehensively tested by nine different bioassays. Results show that Cu species on the Bi2O3 surface exists in +2 oxidation state, which is coordinated with four O atoms with an average bond length of 1.947 Å. The light wavelength was found to affect the final toxicity of atrazine solution. Irradiation of Cu(II)/Bi2O3 with visible light generally resulted in lower toxicity of atrazine solution although it led to slower degradation and mineralization of atrazine. Therefore, as far as the toxicity reduction is concerned, use of visible light for Cu(II)/Bi2O3 is preferred. Based on the present findings, proper selection of light wavelength could be a suitable option for toxicity reduction of photocatalyically treated organic contaminants in water environment.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Ton Duc Thang University, Vietnam. The Synchrotron Light Research Institute (Public Organization), Thailand is acknowledged for providing beamtime at BL8:XAS (Project ID# 2300). R. Aromdee and K. Juntasa are also acknowledged for the toxicity assessments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Computational Physics, Institute for Computational Science, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Hanggara Sudrajat

  2. Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Hanggara Sudrajat

  3. Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Hanggara Sudrajat

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  1. Hanggara Sudrajat
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Correspondence to Hanggara Sudrajat.

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Sudrajat, H. Cu(II)/Bi2O3 Photocatalysis for Toxicity Reduction of Atrazine in Water Environment under Different Light Wavelengths. Environ. Process. 4, 439–449 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-017-0241-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-017-0241-z

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