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Photocatalytic Degradation of Pentachlorophenol Using ZnO Nanoparticles: Study of Intermediates and Toxicity

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Abstract

The photocatalytic degradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) was carried out using ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in the presence of sunlight. The effect of different ZnO NPs sizes was synthesized by sol–gel method as well as loading of ZnO NPs on degradation of PCP was investigated. The results showed that the sunny condition was the best to achieve higher efficiency due to the fact that higher energy of photon was available to accelerate rate of reaction. The highest degradation efficiency of PCP was achieved by smaller size of ZnO NPs as 20 nm with band gap and surface area as 3.198 eV and 26.23 m2/g, respectively. The optimum loading of ZnO NP to achieve higher efficiency of 99.6% was 1.0 g/l under 2 h of irradiation time. The photodegradation of PCP followed a pseudo-first order reaction and the observed rate constant was dependent on the ZnO NP loading. The pathway of PCP degradation was suggested according to the HPLC analysis where PCP was converted to nontoxic compounds such as acetic acid and oxalic acid. The toxicity of PCP before and after degradation was evaluated which indicated the removal of toxicity after degradation as sequence with degradation efficiency and confirmed within fragmentation of PCP degradation.

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Acknowledgements

This paper was made possible by NPRP Grant # [5-1425-2-607 and 7-1154-2-433] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation) and Research Centre for Sustainable Process Technology (CESPRO), Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia under project PKT-6/2012, iconic-2014-004. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. One of the authors (Muneer M. Ba-Abbad) is grateful to Hadhramout University of Science & Technology, Yemen for its financial support for his PhD study. The authors would like to thank the Centre for Research and Instrumentation Management, UKM (CRIM) for XRD, TEM and PL analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Muneer M. Ba-Abbad, Mohd S. Takriff & Abdul Wahab Mohammad

  2. Research Centre for Sustainable Process Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Muneer M. Ba-Abbad, Mohd S. Takriff & Abdul Wahab Mohammad

  3. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Sriwijaya University, Indralaya, 30662, Sumatera Selatan, Indonesia

    Muhammad Said

  4. Gas Processing Centre, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar

    Abdelbaki Benamor & Mustafa S. Nasser

  5. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Petroleum, Hadhramout University of Science and Technology, Mukalla, Hadhramout, Yemen

    Muneer M. Ba-Abbad

Authors
  1. Muneer M. Ba-Abbad
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  2. Mohd S. Takriff
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  3. Muhammad Said
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  4. Abdelbaki Benamor
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  5. Mustafa S. Nasser
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  6. Abdul Wahab Mohammad
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Correspondence to Muneer M. Ba-Abbad.

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Ba-Abbad, M.M., Takriff, M.S., Said, M. et al. Photocatalytic Degradation of Pentachlorophenol Using ZnO Nanoparticles: Study of Intermediates and Toxicity. Int J Environ Res 11, 461–473 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41742-017-0041-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41742-017-0041-3

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