Abstract
The photocatalytic oxidation of benzene by ZnO nanoparticles coated on glass plates was studied under simulated sunlight. ZnO nanoparticles were coated on three glass plates by heat attachment method. To evaluate the photocatalytic removal of benzene, coated plates were irradiated by metal halide lamp in a rectangular reactor in batch mode. The effect of initial pollutant concentration, temperature, relative humidity, irradiation time, concentration of zinc oxide suspension, were assessed. The surface morphology and structure of ZnO nanoparticles and ZnO coated on glass plates were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Sampling and analysis of benzene were performed according to NIOSH method. To analyze the concentration of benzene, gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) was used. Results indicated that photocatalytic process by ZnO under irradiation of metal halide lamp could remove benzene at optimum experimental conditions. Coating of glass plates by ZnO suspension, resulted in 57% removal of benzene as concentration of 50 ppm at 45 °C, and relative humidity of 40% after 240 min irradiation of metal halide lamp. Results indicated that photocatalytic oxidation process by ZnO nanoparticles can be used as a proper and environmentally friendly method for removing low concentrations of benzene from polluted air under simulated sunlight.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atsdr U (2007) Toxicological profile for benzene US Department of Health and Human Services. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta
ATSDRU (2017) Toxicological profile for toluene. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Atlanta
Behnajady MA, Moghaddam SG, Modirshahla N, Shokri M (2009) Investigation of the effect of heat attachment method parameters at photocatalytic activity of immobilized ZnO nanoparticles on glass plate. Desalination 249:1371–1376
Boonen E et al (2015) Construction of a photocatalytic de-polluting field site in the Leopold II tunnel in Brussels. J Environ Manag 155:136–144
Boyjoo Y, Sun H, Liu J, Pareek VK, Wang S (2017) A review on photocatalysis for air treatment: from catalyst development to reactor design. Chem Eng J 310:537–559
Cai W, Gu W, Zhu L, Lv W, Xia C, Ding B (2014) Photocatalytic oxidation of gaseous acetone and ethanol mixtures over titanium dioxide powders. Bulg Chem Commun 46:911–917
Chen R, Zhu C, Lu J, Xiao J, Lei Y, Yu Z (2018) BiVO4/α-Fe2O3 catalytic degradation of gaseous benzene: preparation, characterization and photocatalytic properties. Appl Surf Sci 427:141–147
Einaga H, Ibusuki T, Futamura S (2004) Photocatalytic oxidation of benzene in air. J Solar Energy Eng 126:789–793
Esplugues A, Ballester F, Estarlich M, Llop S, Fuentes-Leonarte V, Mantilla E, Iñiguez C (2010) Indoor and outdoor air concentrations of BTEX and determinants in a cohort of one-year old children in Valencia. Spain Sci Total Environ 409:63–69
Folli A et al (2015) Field study of air purifying paving elements containing TiO2. Atmos Environ 107:44–51
Huang H, Huang H, Zhang L, Hu P, Ye X, Leung DY (2015) Enhanced degradation of gaseous benzene under vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation over TiO2 modified by transition metals. Chem Eng J 259:534–541
Huang H et al (2017) Photocatalytic oxidation of gaseous benzene under VUV irradiation over TiO2/zeolites catalysts. Catal Today 281:649–655
Hussain M, Russo N, Saracco G (2011) Photocatalytic abatement of VOCs by novel optimized TiO2 nanoparticles. Chem Eng J 166:138–149
IARC (2012) Chemical agents and related occupations. IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risks Humans 100:249–294
Jafarikojour M, Sohrabi M, Royaee SJ, Hassanvand A (2015) Evaluation and optimization of a novel immobilized photoreactor for the degradation of gaseous toluene. Clean Soil Air Water 43:662–670
Khan FI, Ghoshal AK (2000) Removal of volatile organic compounds from polluted air. J Loss Prev Process Ind 13:527–545
Lan L et al (2017) Efficient UV–vis-infrared light-driven catalytic abatement of benzene on amorphous manganese oxide supported on anatase TiO2 nanosheet with dominant 001 facets promoted by a photothermocatalytic synergetic effect. Appl Catal B Environ 203:494–504
Liu Z et al (2012) Photocatalytic degradation of gaseous benzene with CdS-sensitized TiO2 film coated on fiberglass cloth. J Mol Catal A Chem 363:159–165
Luengas A, Barona A, Hort C, Gallastegui G, Platel V, Elias A (2015) A review of indoor air treatment technologies. Rev Environ Sci Bio Technol 14:499–522
Lyu J, Zhu L, Burda C (2014) Considerations to improve adsorption and photocatalysis of low concentration air pollutants on TiO2. Catal Today 225:24–33
Ma J, Zhu C, Lu J, Liu H, Huang L, Chen T, Chen D (2015) Catalytic degradation of gaseous benzene by using TiO2/goethite immobilized on palygorskite: preparation, characterization and mechanism. Solid State Sci 49:1–9
Mamaghani AH, Haghighat F, Lee C-S (2017) Photocatalytic oxidation technology for indoor environment air purification: the state-of-the-art. Appl Catal B 203:247–269
Mo J, Zhang Y, Xu Q, Lamson JJ, Zhao R (2009) Photocatalytic purification of volatile organic compounds in indoor air: a literature review. Atmos Environ 43:2229–2246
Nath RK, Zain MFM, Kadhum AAH, Kaish A (2014) An investigation of LiNbO3 photocatalyst coating on concrete surface for improving indoor air quality. Constr Build Mater 54:348–353
Obee TN, Hay SO (1997) Effects of moisture and temperature on the photooxidation of ethylene on titania. Environ Sci Technol 31:2034–2038
Ong CB, Ng LY, Mohammad AW (2018) A review of ZnO nanoparticles as solar photocatalysts: synthesis, mechanisms and applications. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 81:536–551
Pacheco-Torgal F, Jalali S (2011) Nanotechnology: advantages and drawbacks in the field of construction and building materials. Constr Build Mater 25:582–590
Piumetti M, Fino D, Russo N (2015) Mesoporous manganese oxides prepared by solution combustion synthesis as catalysts for the total oxidation of VOCs. Appl Catal B 163:277–287
Pourtaghi G (2009) Toluene removal from air using TiO2 nano-particles coated on Microbial cellulose by induction with ultraviolet radiation. PhD Thesis. Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Ren H, Koshy P, Chen W-F, Qi S, Sorrell CC (2017) Photocatalytic materials and technologies for air purification. J Hazard Mater 325:340–366
Rezaee A, Pourtaghi G, Khavanin A, Mamoory RS, Ghaneian M, Godini H (2008) Photocatalytic decomposition of gaseous toluene by TiO2 nanoparticles coated on activated carbon. J Environ Health Sci Eng 5:305–310
Rezaee A, Rangkooy H, Khavanin A, Jafari AJ (2014) High photocatalytic decomposition of the air pollutant formaldehyde using nano-ZnO on bone char. Environ Chem Lett 12:353–357
Rismanchian M, Akbari J, Keshavarzi R (2014) Photocatalytic removal of gaseous toluene by titanium dioxide coated on nickel foam: influence of relative humidity and toluene concentration. Int J Environ Health Eng 3:29
Shiraishi F, Ohkubo D, Toyoda K, Yamaguchi S (2005) Decomposition of gaseous formaldehyde in a photocatalytic reactor with a parallel array of light sources: 1. Fundamental experiment for reactor design. Chem Eng J 114:153–159
Sleiman M, Conchon P, Ferronato C, Chovelon J-M (2009) Photocatalytic oxidation of toluene at indoor air levels (ppbv): towards a better assessment of conversion, reaction intermediates and mineralization. Appl Catal B Environ 86:159–165
Tasbihi M, Bendyna JK, Notten PH (2015) A short review on photocatalytic degradation of formaldehyde. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 15:6386–6396
Tejasvi R, Sharma M, Upadhyay K (2015) Passive photo-catalytic destruction of air-borne VOCs in high traffic areas using TiO2-coated flexible PVC sheet. Chem Eng J 262:875–881
Wu J-F, Hung C-H, Yuan C-S (2005) Kinetic modeling of promotion and inhibition of temperature on photocatalytic degradation of benzene vapor. J Photochem Photobiol A 170:299–306
Yao N, Yeung KL (2011) Investigation of the performance of TiO2 photocatalytic coatings. Chem Eng J 167:13–21
Yu Q, Brouwers H (2009) Indoor air purification using heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation Part I: Experimental study. Appl Catal B Environ 92:454–461
Yu CW, Kim JT (2013) Photocatalytic oxidation for maintenance of indoor environmental quality. Indoor Built Environ 22:39–51
Zhang X, Gao B, Creamer AE, Cao C, Li Y (2017) Adsorption of VOCs onto engineered carbon materials: a review. J Hazard Mater 338:102–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.05.013
Zhong L, Haghighat F (2015) Photocatalytic air cleaners and materials technologies—abilities and limitations. Build Environ 91:191–203
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by Iran University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 27576). The authors gratefully acknowledge Iran University of Medical Sciences for financially supporting this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jafari, A.J., Kalantari, R.R., Kermani, M. et al. Photocatalytic oxidation of benzene by ZnO coated on glass plates under simulated sunlight. Chem. Pap. 73, 635–644 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-018-0621-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-018-0621-5