Potential of TiO<sub>2</sub> with Various Au Nanoparticles for Catalyzing Mesotrione Removal from Wastewaters under Sunlight
Daniela Šojić Merkulov,
Marina Lazarević,
Aleksandar Djordjevic,
Máté Náfrádi,
Tünde Alapi,
Predrag Putnik,
Zlatko Rakočević,
Mirjana Novaković,
Bojan Miljević,
Szabolcs Bognár,
Biljana Abramović
Affiliations
Daniela Šojić Merkulov
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Marina Lazarević
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Aleksandar Djordjevic
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Máté Náfrádi
Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Szeged, Dóm tér 7, H-6720 Szeged, Hungary
Tünde Alapi
Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Szeged, Dóm tér 7, H-6720 Szeged, Hungary
Predrag Putnik
Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Zlatko Rakočević
Institute for Nuclear Sciences “Vinča”, University of Belgrade, Mihajla Petrovića Alasa 12-14, 11351 Vinča, Belgrade, Serbia
Mirjana Novaković
Institute for Nuclear Sciences “Vinča”, University of Belgrade, Mihajla Petrovića Alasa 12-14, 11351 Vinča, Belgrade, Serbia
Bojan Miljević
Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, Bulevar cara Lazara 1, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Szabolcs Bognár
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Biljana Abramović
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Nowadays, great focus is given to the contamination of surface and groundwater because of the extensive usage of pesticides in agriculture. The improvements of commercial catalyst TiO2 activity using different Au nanoparticles were investigated for mesotrione photocatalytic degradation under simulated sunlight. The selected system was 2.43 × 10−3% Au–S–CH2–CH2–OH/TiO2 (0.5 g/L) that was studied by transmission electron microscopy and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. It was found that TiO2 particles size was ~20 nm and ~50 nm, respectively. The Au nanoparticles were below 10 nm and were well distributed within the framework of TiO2. For 2.43 × 10−3% Au–S–CH2–CH2–OH/TiO2 (0.5 g/L), band gap energy was 2.45 eV. In comparison to the pure TiO2, addition of Au nanoparticles generally enhanced photocatalytic removal of mesotrione. By examining the degree of mineralization, it was found that 2.43 × 10−3% Au–S–CH2–CH2–OH/TiO2 (0.5 g/L) system was the most efficient for the removal of the mesotrione and intermediates. The effect of tert-butanol, NaF and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt on the transformation rate suggested that the relative contribution of various reactive species changed in following order: h+ > ●OHads > ●OHbulk. Finally, several intermediates that were formed during the photocatalytic treatment of mesotrione were identified.
