title: Diffused sunlight driven highly synergistic pathway for complete mineralization of organic contaminants using reduced graphene oxide supported photocatalyst.
abstract: Diffused sunlight is found to be an effective light source for the efficient degradation and mineralization of organic pollutant (methyl orange as a probe) by sono-photocatalytic degradation using reduced graphene oxide (rGO) supported CuO-TiO2 photocatalyst. The prepared catalysts are characterized by XRD, XPS, UV-vis DRS, PL, photoelectrochemical, SEM-EDS and TEM. A 10 fold synergy is achieved for the first time by combining sonochemical and photocatalytic degradation under diffused sunlight. rGO loading augments the activity of bare CuO-TiO2 more than two fold. The ability of rGO in storing, transferring, and shuttling electrons at the heterojunction between TiO2 and CuO facilitates the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, as evidenced by the photoluminescence results. The complete mineralization of MO and the by-products within a short span of time is confirmed by TOC analysis. Further, hydroxyl radical mediated degradation under diffused sunlight is confirmed by LC-MS. This system shows similar activity for the degradation of methylene blue and 4-chlorophenol indicating the versatility of the catalyst for the degradation of various pollutants. This investigation is likely to open new possibilities for the development of highly efficient diffused sunlight driven TiO2 based photocatalysts for the complete mineralization of organic contaminants.
authors.affiliation: SRM Research Institute, SRM University, Kattankulathur 603203, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
authors.forename: Sundaram Ganesh
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Babu
authors.affiliation: SRM Research Institute, SRM University, Kattankulathur 603203, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
authors.lastname: Ramalingam Vinoth
authors.affiliation: SRM Research Institute, SRM University, Kattankulathur 603203, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. Electronic address: neppolian.b@res.srmuniv.ac.in.
authors.forename: Bernaurdshaw
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Neppolian
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Science Program, Department of Biomedical, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0012, USA.
authors.forename: Dionysios D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Dionysiou
authors.affiliation: The School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Muthupandian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ashokkumar
mesh_terms: D019817:Benzoic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D002384:Catalysis; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D049449:Luminescence; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D013472:Sunlight; D014025:Titanium
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009930:Organic Chemicals; C009495:titanium dioxide; D006108:Graphite; D003300:Copper; D019817:Benzoic Acid; D014025:Titanium; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: CuO–TiO(2)/rGO; Diffused sunlight; Sonophotocatalysis; Synergistic effect; rGO