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Urban wastewater treatment by using Ag/ZnO and Pt/TiO2 photocatalysts

  • Advanced Oxidation Technologies: State-of-the-Art in Ibero-American Countries
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Abstract

In this study, the treatment of wastewater coming from a river highly polluted with domestic and industrial effluents was evaluated. For this purpose, series of photocatalysts obtained by ZnO and TiO2 modification were evaluated. The effect of metal addition and Ti precursor (in the case of the titania series) over the physicochemical and photocatalytic properties of the materials obtained was also analyzed. The evaluation of the photocatalytic activity showed that semiconductor modification and precursor used in the materials synthesis are important factors influencing the physicochemical and therefore the photocatalytic properties of the materials obtained. The water samples analyzed in the present work were taken from a highly polluted river, and it was found that the effectiveness of the photocatalytic treatment increases when the reaction time increases and for both, wastewater samples and isolated Escherichia coli strain follow the next order Pt/TiO2 << ZnO. It was also observed that biochemical and chemical demand oxygen and turbidity significantly decrease after treatment, thus indicating that photocatalysis is a non-selective technology, which can lead to recover wastewater containing different pollutants.

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Acknowledgements

Research services of CITIUS University of Seville are acknowledged. C. Jaramillo-Páez thanks the University of Tolima for economic support in the studies commission.

Funding

This work was financed by Fondo Nacional de Financiamiento para la Ciencia, la Tecnología y la Innovación “Francisco José de Caldas—Colciencias,” Project 279-2016, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia and by research fund from Project Ref. CTQ2015-64664-C2-2-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Catálisis, Escuela de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia UPTC, Avenida Central del Norte, Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia

    Julie J. Murcia Mesa, Lizeth G Arias Bolivar, Hugo Alfonso Rojas Sarmiento & Elsa Giovanna Ávila Martínez

  2. Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla (ICMS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas CSIC, Universidad de Sevilla, Américo Vespucio 49, 41092, Seville, Spain

    César Jaramillo Páez, Mayra Anabel Lara, José Antonio Navío Santos & María del Carmen Hidalgo López

  3. Departamento de Química, Universidad de Tolima, Barrio Santa Elena, Ibague, Colombia

    César Jaramillo Páez

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  1. Julie J. Murcia Mesa
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  2. Lizeth G Arias Bolivar
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  3. Hugo Alfonso Rojas Sarmiento
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  4. Elsa Giovanna Ávila Martínez
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  5. César Jaramillo Páez
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  6. Mayra Anabel Lara
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  7. José Antonio Navío Santos
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  8. María del Carmen Hidalgo López
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Correspondence to Julie J. Murcia Mesa.

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Responsible editor: Suresh Pillai

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Murcia Mesa, J.J., Arias Bolivar, L.G., Sarmiento, H.A.R. et al. Urban wastewater treatment by using Ag/ZnO and Pt/TiO2 photocatalysts. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 4171–4179 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1592-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1592-3

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