title: Low frequency ultrasound (42 kHz) assisted degradation of Acid Blue 113 in the presence of visible light driven rare earth nanoclusters loaded TiO2 nanophotocatalysts.
abstract: An attempt has been made to render the visible light driven photocatalytic activity to the TiO2 nanocatalysts by loading 1 wt% of rare earth (RE) nanoclusters (Gd(3+), Nd(3+) and Y(3+)) using a low frequency (42 kHz) producing commercial sonicator. The STEM-HAADF analysis confirms that the RE nanoclusters were residing at the surface of the TiO2. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses confirm that the loading of RE nanoclusters cannot make any significant changes in the crystal structure of TiO2. However, the optical properties of the resulted nanocatalysts were significantly modified and the nanocatalysts were employed to study the sonocatalytic, photocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic decolorization as well as mineralization of Acid Blue 113 (AB113). Among the experimented nanocatalysts maximum degradation of AB113 was achieved in the presence Y(3+)-TiO2 nanocatalysts. The decolorization of AB113 in the presence and absence of Y(3+) loaded TiO2 ensues the following order sonolysis<photocatalysis<sonocatalysis<sonophotocatalysis. The sonophotocatalytic decolorization of AB113 shows 1.4-fold (synergy index) enhanced rate when compared with the two corresponding individual advanced oxidation processes. The sonophotocatalytic mineralization shows that 65% of total organic carbon (TOC) can be removed from AB113 after the 5h of continuous irradiation however the mineralization cannot be able to show the synergetic effect.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Ceramics and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Concepcion, Concepcion 407-0409, Chile; Department of Chemistry, Periyar Maniammai University, Vallam, Thanjavur 613403, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address: sathish_panner2001@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Panneerselvam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sathishkumar
authors.affiliation: Advanced Ceramics and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Concepcion, Concepcion 407-0409, Chile. Electronic address: mangal@udec.cl.
authors.forename: Ramalinga Viswanathan
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Mangalaraja
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemical Sciences, University of Concepcion, PO Box 160-C, Correo 3, Concepcion, Chile.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rozas
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemical Sciences, University of Concepcion, PO Box 160-C, Correo 3, Concepcion, Chile.
authors.forename: Héctor D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Mansilla
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Facultad de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas, Av. Universidad, Cd. Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, N.L., Mexico; Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Desarrollo de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Avenida Alianza 101 Sur PIIT Monterrey Apodaca, NL 66600, Mexico.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gracia-Pinilla
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterials and Solar Energy Conversion Lab, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Trichy 620 015, India.
authors.forename: Sambandam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anandan
keywords: Acid Blue 113; Mineralization and combined AOPs; Rare earth loaded TiO(2); Sonophotocatalysis