title: Sonocatalytic degradation of Acid Blue 92 using sonochemically prepared samarium doped zinc oxide nanostructures.
abstract: Pure and Sm-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized applying a simple sonochemical method. The nanocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques which confirmed the successful synthesis of the doped sonocatalyst. The sonocatalytic degradation of Acid Blue 92 (AB92), a model azo dye, was more than that with sonolysis alone. The 6% Sm-doped ZnO nanoparticles had a band gap of 2.8 eV and demonstrated the highest activity. The degradation efficiency (DE%) of sonolysis and sonocatalysis with undoped ZnO and 6% Sm-doped ZnO was 45.73%, 63.9%, and 90.10%, after 150 min of treatment, respectively. Sonocatalytic degradation of AB92 is enhanced with increasing the dopant amount and catalyst dosage and with decreasing the initial AB29 concentration. DE% declines with the addition of radical scavengers such as chloride, carbonate, sulfate, and tert-butanol. However, the addition of enhancers including potassium periodates, peroxydisulfate, and hydrogen peroxide improves DE% by producing more free radicals. The results show adequate reusability of the doped sonocatalyst. Degradation intermediates were recognized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Using nonlinear regression analysis, an empirical kinetic model was developed to estimate the pseudo-first-order constants (kapp) as a function of the main operational parameters, including the initial dye concentration, sonocatalyst dosage, and ultrasonic power.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: a_khataee@tabrizu.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khataee
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Shabnam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, 51579-44533 Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Behrouz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vahid
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, 712-749 Gyeongsan, South Korea. Electronic address: swjoo@yu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sang Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Joo
authors.affiliation: Center for Research Facilities, Yeungnam University, 712-749 Gyeongsan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Bong-Ki
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Min
keywords: Degradation; Kinetic modeling; Nanocatalyst; Sm-doped ZnO; Sonocatalysis; Sonocatalyst