Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, cilt.107, sa.3, ss.671-684, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
The introduction of hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) through water sources can cause serious damage to humans and other organisms. Hence, the removal of toxic Cr(VI) ions from the water environment is of great importance in the field of wastewater treatment. In this study, the Cr(VI) removal was performed through the photoreduction technique. Because of its tunable optical band gap, tungsten oxide (WO3), which can be driven by the visible light, was selected as the photocatalyst. To enhance the effective separation of the photoinduced charge carriers, WO3 was coupled with a magnetic semiconductor, copper ferrite (CuFe2O4). A co-precipitation technique was used to synthesize WO3 in nanoparticle form and the as-prepared WO3 nanoparticles were used to prepare WO3/CuFe2O4 composites through an auto-combustion sol-gel technique. When WO3 was coupled with CuFe2O4, the Cr(VI) photoreduction efficiency was enhanced from 23.9% to 60.0% within 120 min of visible light irradiation. The Cr(VI) photoreduction performance of the WO3/CuFe2O4 composite was studied under various conditions also. Within this scope, the initial pH, ion concentration and photocatalyst concentration of the Cr(VI) solution was investigated. The effect of competing substances in a real wastewater sample on the Cr(VI) photoreduction activity was also studied. To understand the Cr(VI) photoreduction mechanism, electron-hole scavengers were used. Based on the trapping experiment, photoinduced electrons of both semiconductors contributed as the main active species in the Cr(VI) photoreduction process. According to reusability experiment, the Cr(VI) removal rate of the composite sample reduced from 60.0% to 47.2% after four consecutive photoreduction cycles. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]