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Characterization and Evaluation of Copper Slag as a Bifunctional Photocatalyst for Alcohols Degradation and Hydrogen Production

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Abstract

With the goal of providing an economically viable method for reducing water pollution and health impact by the mezcal industry wastes, photocatalytic degradation of toxic alcohols using copper slag (CS) was evaluated, investigating the possibility for a concurrent hydrogen production. CS was characterized extensively by XRD, XRF, SEM–EDS, UV–Vis and electrochemical techniques to evaluate its properties as a photocatalyst. The slag consists of magnetite, fayalite and a silicate glass phase. CS showed a band gap of 2.75 eV, which is in the values range reported for fayalite, an n-type semiconductor with a clearly defined surface state. The band edge scheme for CS shows energy levels within the range required to perform the photocatalytic water reduction reaction, as well as the oxidation of the studied alcohols and their by-products. Experiments using UV and simulated solar light show that the efficiency of CS is higher in the visible range and that hydrogen production increases in the order methanol > propanol > isoamyl alcohol. An apparent quantum yield for methanol degradation of 40% under simulated solar light was obtained. This provides the prospect for a low cost and potential efficient photocatalyst for the oxidation of organic pollutants in industrial wastewater under solar radiation, with the simultaneous hydrogen generation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from DGAPA under grant IV100616. Claudia V. Montoya thanks CONACYT and DGAPA for her PhD scholarship. The authors thank to Dr. Aida Gutiérrez for her comments and recommendations in the field of diffuse reflectance spectrometry, Biol. Germán Álvarez Lozano and MSc. Jorge Luis Romero Hernández for their support on Scattering Electron Microscopy. Authors are also grateful for the support of XRD and XRF Laboratory of the Geology Institute at UNAM, member of National Laboratory of Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Mexico, in the materials characterization, especially to Dr. T. Pi-Puig and Quim. Rufino Lozano.

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  1. Instituto de Ingeniería, Coordinación de Ingeniería Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    Claudia Victoria Montoya-Bautista & Rosa-María Ramírez-Zamora

  2. CONACYT-Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CICATA Legaria, Calzada Legaria 694, Col. Irrigación, 11500, Mexico City, Mexico

    Próspero Acevedo-Peña

  3. Instituto de Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    Rodolfo Zanella

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Montoya-Bautista, C.V., Acevedo-Peña, P., Zanella, R. et al. Characterization and Evaluation of Copper Slag as a Bifunctional Photocatalyst for Alcohols Degradation and Hydrogen Production. Top Catal 64, 131–141 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-020-01362-4

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