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Photocatalytic Oxidation, Materials Studies, Photochemistry Analysis in Organic Pollutants under Sustainable Environmental Governance

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2025) | Viewed by 1027

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. School of Physics, Changchun Normal University, Changchun 130032, China
2. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Interests: optimal preparation methods for photocatalysts; monocrystal photocatalysts; complex photocatalysts; heterogenous junction catalysts; property characterization of nanocatalysts; photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants; degradative pathway of organic pollutants; research on degradation mechanisms
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Photocatalytic technology has emerged as a potential approach for effluent treatment. Photocatalytic technology utilizes solar energy to drive photocatalysts and realize the decomposition of water to produce free radicals with highly oxidative and reductive properties. The free radicals can effectively remove organic pollutants without generating secondary pollution. Additionally, the photocatalyst has the advantage of being recyclable as well. Therefore, the key to achieving commercial industrialization lies in the development of optimal photocatalysts that exhibit superior efficiency, significant specific surface area, maximum utilization of solar energy, and recyclability.

The aim of this topic is to prepare visible light-responsive photocatalysts or ultraviolet light-responsive photocatalysts, or to prepare heterojunction photocatalysts, precious metal-doped composite photocatalysts, and composite photocatalysts loaded with double defects. Using advanced oxidation technology and novel monocrystalline photocatalysts (or novel composite photocatalysts), photocatalytic oxidative degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater is carried out under sunlight irradiation, or under ultraviolet light illumination, or under visible light irradiation. It mainly degrades organic pollutants such as rhodamine B, indigo and methyl blue in printing and dyeing wastewater, organic pollutants such as methyl parathion, phoxim and pentachlorophenol in pesticide wastewater, and organic pollutants such as norfloxacin, enrofloxacin, spiramycin and other antibiotics in pharmaceutical wastewater. The degradation removal rates of above organic pollutants and the removal rate of the total organic carbon should be analysed and summarized. The intermediates and their mass to charge ratio during photocatalytic degradation of above organic pollutants should be examined. The degradation pathways of above organic pollutants should be given, and the capture agent experiments should be provided to analyse the comparison of the oxidation abilities of superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical and positive hole. The degradation mechanism of above organic pollutants should be revealed.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following: Novel photocatalysts, mulriple photocatalysts, heterogenous junction catalyst, photocatalytic oxidation of organic pollutants, photochemistry analysis, property characterization, degradative pathway of organic pollutants, degradation mechanism, photocatalysts in environmental remediation, wastewater treatment, removal of gaseous pollutant, removal of toxic organic pollutant, auto purification by using photocatalysts, disinfection treatment by using photocatalysts, odor treatment by using photocatalysts, visible light irradiation, Hydrogen production by water splitting, ustainable environmental protection.

I/We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jingfei Luan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • environmental remediation
  • sustainable environmental protection
  • materials studies
  • sustainable environmental protection
  • novel photocatalysts
  • mulriple photocatalysts
  • heterogenous junction catalyst
  • photocatalytic oxidation of organic pollutants
  • photochemistry analysis
  • degradative pathway of organic pollutants
  • degradation mechanism
  • hydrogen production by water splitting
  • visible light irradiation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

30 pages, 7754 KB  
Article
Metronidazole Degradation via Visible Light-Driven Z-Scheme BiTmDySbO7/BiEuO3 Heterojunction Photocatalyst
by Jingfei Luan, Zhe Li, Ye Yao, Jian Wang and Liang Hao
Sustainability 2025, 17(22), 10024; https://doi.org/10.3390/su172210024 - 10 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 536
Abstract
This study presented the successful synthesis of a visible light responsive Z-scheme BiTmDySbO7/BiEuO3 heterojunction photocatalyst (BBHP) via the hydrothermal method, exhibiting outstanding removal efficiency for degrading the metronidazole (MNZ) in wastewater. The BBHP exhibited exceptional photocatalytic activity during the degradation [...] Read more.
This study presented the successful synthesis of a visible light responsive Z-scheme BiTmDySbO7/BiEuO3 heterojunction photocatalyst (BBHP) via the hydrothermal method, exhibiting outstanding removal efficiency for degrading the metronidazole (MNZ) in wastewater. The BBHP exhibited exceptional photocatalytic activity during the degradation process of the MNZ which was a widely detected pharmaceutical pollutant in aquatic environments. The key to the high photocatalytic activity of the BBHP was the formation of a Z-scheme photogenerated carrier transport channel which existed between BiTmDySbO7 and BiEuO3 within the heterojunction structure. This innovative structural design was experimentally confirmed for enhancing the separation efficiency of the photogenerated charge carriers significantly, thereby, the efficient photocatalytic activity of the BBHP was promoted. After visible light irradiation for 130 min, the BBHP achieved a removal efficiency of 99.56% for degrading MNZ and a mineralization rate of 98.11% for removing the total organic carbon (TOC) concentration. In contrast to a single photocatalyst, the removal rate of the MNZ by using the BBHP was 1.14 times that by using the BiEuO3, 1.26 times that by using the BiTmDySbO7, and 2.65 times that by using the nitrogen-doped TiO2 (N-T) under visible light irradiation. The mineralization rate for removing the TOC concentration during the degradation process of the MNZ by using the BBHP was 1.17 times that by using the BiEuO3, 1.29 times that by using the BiTmDySbO7, and 2.86 times that by using the N-T under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation process of the MNZ by using the BBHP followed first-order kinetics model, concurrently, a dynamics rate constant of 0.0345 min−1 was obtained. Furthermore, the BBHP demonstrated excellent stability and durability in accordance with multiple cyclic degradation experiments. According to the capturing radicals experiments and the electron paramagnetic resonance test experiments, it was determined that the hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and the superoxide anions (•O2) played key role during the photocatalytic degradation process of the MNZ by using the BBHP under visible light irradiation. Finally, the intermediate products that were produced during the degradation process of the MNZ were analyzed by using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer, as a result, a potential degradation pathway for the MNZ was proposed. Overall, this study could provide valuable references for future research on composite photocatalysts and effectively maintain the safety and sustainable utilization of water resource. Full article
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