Molecules, Vol. 29, Pages 1817: Efficient Catalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange by Various ZnO-Doped Lignin-Based Carbons

Molecules, Vol. 29, Pages 1817: Efficient Catalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange by Various ZnO-Doped Lignin-Based Carbons Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules29081817 Authors: Zhihao Tang Yonggang Yang Weiqi Wei Herein, a series of ZnO-doped lignin-based carbons (LC/ZnO) were successfully prepared from different types of lignin and used for methyl orange (MO) photocatalytic degradation. The apparent morphology, internal structure, and photoelectric properties of prepared LC/ZnO composites and their effects on subsequent MO photocatalytic degradation were investigated by various characterization techniques. The results showed that the LC/ZnO composites that were prepared in this work mainly consisted of highly dispersed ZnO nanoparticles and lignin-based carbon nano-sheets, which were beneficial for subsequent photogenerated electrons and holes formation, dispersion, and migration. The MO could be significantly degraded with various ZnO-doped lignin-based carbons, especially over the LCSL/ZnO, and the maximum degradation rate was 96.9% within 30 min under the simulated 300w sunlight exposure. The experiments of free radical elimination showed that the photocatalytic degradation of MO over LC/ZnO were a result of the co-action of multiple free radicals, and h+ might play the predominant roles in MO degradation. In addition, the pH of the solution had little effect on MO degradation, and the MO could be effectively degraded even in an alkaline solution of pH = 12.0. The...
Source: Molecules - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research