CATALYTIC OXIDATION OF HETEROCYCLIC NITROGENOUS COMPOUNDS FROM AQUEOS SOLUTION

Abstract

In this study, CuO-loaded ZnO photocatalysts were synthesized and further used for the degradation of nitrogenous hetercyclic compounds namely pyridine and quinolone from aqueous solution. Three photocatalysts were synthesized with different Cu wt. concentrations (1%, 5% and 10%), CuO-loaded ZnO catalyst was synthesized using precipitation method. The characterization of catalyst was done using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS) and Brauner-Emmet- Teller (BET) techniques. Photocatalytic degradation of pyridine and quinoline was measured using UV-vis spectrophotometer. The effects of pH, photocatalyst dose and irradiation time were studied. At all optimum conditions, maximum degradation achieved was: 92.4% for pyridine and 74.3% for quinoline. The reactive oxidant species (ROS) scavenger studies confirmed the in-situ generation of singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals. The degradation was followed by first order kinetics and later on reusability study of the catalyst was checked which showed that the photodegradation efficiency of photocatalyst was stable until four consecutive runs