Industrial manufacturing and large-scale agricultural practices have introduced a broad spectrum of synthetic organic pollutants into groundwater sources through their waste streams, thereby contributing to a critical global shortage of clean water. Photocatalytic oxidative degradation of organic pollutants using sunlight offers a sustainable alternative method for remediation of contaminated water. The primary challenges in developing viable photocatalytic water remediation technologies lie in identifying photocatalysts that are (i) fast and efficient, (ii) capable of utilizing a significant portion of the solar spectrum, (iii), easily separated from water, and (iv) reusable. Metal oxide nanocrystals (NCs) are attractive materials for photocatalytic applications due to their stability, synthetic accessibility, environmentally benign composition, and high surface area-to-volume ratios that provide high concentrations of catalytically active surface sites. We are currently looking into using mixed-metal spinel oxide NCs of general formula AB2O4 as a platform for combining the favorable electronic properties of ns0 cations with the desirable optical and magnetic properties of 3d cations to achieve metal oxide materials that are viable photocatalysts for water remediation under visible irradiation. This poster presents insights into the performance of photocatalytically-active MFe2O4 (M=Mg, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Ga) water-soluble nanocrystals on the degradation of organic pollutants. The effect of size, cation distribution and surface chemistry in the photocatalytic oxidative degradation of a series of organic pollutants will be presented.

Nanostructured spinel metal ferrites for photocatalytic water remediation

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.