Effect of Fe2O3 loading on CuO/CNT photocatalyst for degradation of p-Chloroaniline

Abstract

Chloroaniline and its derivatives are generated from industrial chemical manufacturing processes including agricultural chemical, azo dyes and pigments, pesticides and herbicides. These compounds are found to be toxic and dangerous to aquatic and human life. Hence, their discharge into the environment must be regulated. Photocatalytic degradation is one of a promising method to remove such compounds due to its safety, low energy consumption and high efficiency. In this study, the research focused on the effect of iron oxides (Fe2O3) loading (5-50 wt%) on copper-carbon nanotubes (CuO/CNT) photocatalyst for degradation of p-chloroaniline (PCA) under visible light irradiation. The synthesized catalysts were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to analyze its functional groups. Besides Fe2O3 loading, various parameters such as effect of PCA pH solution (3-11), catalyst dosage (0.125- 0.625 g L-1) as well as PCA initial concentration (10-100 mg L-1) were investigated. It was found that the highest degradation (75 %) of 10 mg L-1 PCA was achieved using 0.325 g L-1 10 wt% Fe2O3/50 wt% CuO/CNT at pH 7. Kinetics study showed that the PCA photodegradation followed pseudo first-order Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. It is believed that the Fe2O3/CuO/CNT can be a potential photocatalyst for degrading organics pollutant efficiently.