Colloidal CdS sensitized nano-ZnO/chitosan hydrogel with fast and efficient photocatalytic removal of congo red under solar light irradiation.

Colloidal CdS sensitized nano-ZnO/chitosan (CdS@n-ZnO/CS) hydrogel was prepared and characterized extensively by XRD, SEM-EDS, TEM, UV-Vis DRS, FT-IR and TGA. The photocatalytic activity of CdS@n-ZnO/CS was evaluated with the photodegradation of congo red (CR) as an organic pollutant under solar light irradiation. The influences of initial dye concentration, catalyst dosage, recycling runs, and radical scavenger on decolorization of CR by CdS@n-ZnO/CS were investigated. 95% of CR was removed in just 1 min for 5.0 mg L-1 and 94.34% of CR was removed in 30 min for 100 mg L-1. CdS@n-ZnO/CS exhibited an excellent and ultra-fast performance toward CR removal under solar light due to the synergistic effect of adsorption by chitosan and photocatalysis by ZnO and CdS in CdS@n-ZnO/CS hydrogel. Radical trapping control experiments indicated that h+ and O2- played the major role for CR decolorization. The high performance of CdS@n-ZnO/CS hydrogel was also demonstrated under natural solar light irradiation, suggesting that CdS@n-ZnO/CS hydrogel could be used in practical wastewater treatment.

Magnetic NiFe2O4/MWCNTs functionalized cellulose bioadsorbent with enhanced adsorption property and rapid separation.

Magnetic NiFe2O4 nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized cellulose composite (m-NiFe2O4/MWCNTs@cellulose) as a magnetic bioadsorbent was prepared and used for effectively removing Congo Red (CR) from aqueous solution. The chemical and physical properties of the prepared m-NiFe2O4/MWCNTs@cellulose were characterized by XRD, TGA, FT-IR, VSM, SEM and TEM. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the adsorption capacity and mechanisms. Effects of different adsorption parameters such as initial CR concentration, adsorbent dosage and temperature were studied. Results demonstrated that m-NiFe2O4/MWCNTs@cellulose had high adsorption capacity for CR from aqueous solution. The obtained experimental data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order equation and followed the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 95.70 mg g-1 for CR. The m-NiFe2O4/MWCNTs@cellulose with rapid magnetic separation and high adsorption capacity can be a promising and recyclable engineering biomaterials for purification and treatment of practical wastewater.

[Synthesis, characterization and electrocatalytic performance of Pd/CMK-3 for formic acid oxidation].

The synthesis of mesoporous carbons CMK-3 was implemented using SBA-15 samples as the hard templates and sucrose as the carbon source. Ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-3 supported palladium catalyst with a loading amount of 20% (Pd/CMK-3) was prepared by a complexing reduction method. XRD and TEM results showed that the p6mm hexagonal symmetric pore structures of CMK-3 were highly ordered and the Pd nanoparticles with the average size of 4. 2 nm and 4. 5 nm were well dispersed on CMK-3 and activated carbon (AC) surfaces respectively. Raman results revealed that CMK-3 presented higher graphitization and a higher electric conductivity than AC. The most probable pore size of CMK-3 was 4.5 nm, which is larger than that of AC (0.54 nm). The BET surface area of CMK-3 was 1 114 m2 x g(-1), which was also larger than that of AC(871 m2 x g(-1)). The mesoporous structure of CMK-3 was also observed. The Pd/CMK-3 catalyst exhibited more excellent initial electrocatalytic activity for formic acid oxidation than Pd/AC by cyclic voltammetry (CV). But the chronoamperometry (CA) demonstrated that the stability of the two catalysts were almost equal after 100 s polarization at 0.2 V (vs. SCE).