Photocatalytic Removal of Cr(VI) by Thiourea Modified Sodium Alginate/Biochar Composite Gel

Aijun Deng; Shaojie Wu; Junjie Hao; Hongbo Pan; Mingyang Li; Xiangpeng Gao

doi:10.3390/gels8050293

Back

Photocatalytic Removal of Cr(VI) by Thiourea Modified Sodium Alginate/Biochar Composite Gel

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Photocatalytic Removal of Cr(VI) by Thiourea Modified Sodium Alginate/Biochar Composite Gel

Aijun Deng, Shaojie Wu, Junjie Hao, Hongbo Pan, Mingyang Li and Xiangpeng Gao

Gels, Vol.8(5), 293

2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8050293

PMID: 35621591

Files and links (1)

url

PublishedView

Published (Version of Record) Open

Abstract

adsorption

biochar

hexavalent chromium

photocatalysis

sodium alginate

Heavy metal pollution is an important problem in current water treatments. Traditional methods for treating chromium-containing wastewater have limitations such as having complicated processes and causing secondary pollution. Therefore, seeking efficient and fast processing methods is an important research topic at present. Photocatalysis is an efficient method to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions; however, conventional photocatalysts suffer from a low metal absorption capacity, high investment cost, and slow desorption of trivalent chromium from the catalyst surface. In this study, a novel composite gel was synthesized by chemically modifying thiourea onto sodium alginate, which was then mixed with biochar. The composite gel (T-BSA) can effectively remove 99.98% of Cr(VI) in aqueous solution through synergistic adsorption and photocatalytic reduction under UV light irradiation. The removal mechanism of Cr(VI) was analyzed by FT-IR, FESEM, UV-DRS and XPS. The results show that under acidic conditions, the amino group introduced by chemical modification can be protonated to adsorb Cr(VI) through electrostatic interaction. In addition, the biochar as a functional material has a large specific surface area and pore structure, which can provide active sites for the adsorption of Cr(VI), while the photo-reduced Cr(III) is released into the solution through electrostatic repulsion, regenerating the adsorption sites, thereby improving the removal performance of Cr(VI). Biochar significantly intensifies the Cr(VI) removal performance by providing a porous structure and transferring electrons during photoreduction. This study demonstrates that polysaccharide-derived materials can serve as efficient photocatalysts for wastewater treatment.

Details

Title: Photocatalytic Removal of Cr(VI) by Thiourea Modified Sodium Alginate/Biochar Composite Gel
Authors/Creators: Aijun Deng
Shaojie Wu
Junjie Hao
Hongbo Pan
Mingyang Li
Xiangpeng Gao - Murdoch University, Centre for Water, Energy and Waste
Publication Details: Gels, Vol.8(5), 293
Publisher: MDPI
Grant note: KJ2020ZD25 / University Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Province 51904004 / National Natural Science Foundation of China SKF22-07 / Open Project Program of Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Metallurgical Engineering and Resources Recycling (Anhui University of Technology)
Identifiers: 991005560356807891
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Water, Energy and Waste
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites

Metrics

23 Record Views

15 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Citation topics: 2 Chemistry; 2.90 Water Treatment; 2.90.27 Adsorption
Web Of Science research areas: Polymer Science
ESI research areas: Chemistry