Photocatalytic degradation of ammonia with titania nanoparticles under UV light irradiation

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 29; no. 45; pp. 68600 - 68614
• Main Authors: Hashemi, Seyedeh Fatemeh, Sabbaghi, Samad, Saboori, Rahmatallah, Zarenezhad, Bahman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ammonia; Aquatic Pollution; Aqueous solutions; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Contaminants; Degradation; Dosage; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Irradiation; Light irradiation; Nanoparticles; Optimization; Organic contaminants; pH effects; Photocatalysis; Photodegradation; Pollutants; Radiation dosage; Research Article; Sol-gel processes; Titanium dioxide; Ultraviolet radiation; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Water resources; Degradation; NPs; Ammonia; Titania; Efficiency; Photocatalyst
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-20408-6

Ammonia is one of the major pollutants of water resources, posing a serious threat to human health and the environment. Titania nanoparticles were used to examine the photocatalytic degradation of ammonia from an aqueous solution in this study. Titania nanoparticles (NPs) were first synthesized via the sol–gel method, then characterized using XRD, FTIR, DLS, EDX, FE-SEM, and TEM analyses. Four effective parameters (pH, initial concentration of pollutant, catalyst dosage, and irradiation time) for photocatalytic degradation were explored using Design-Expert Software. The greatest photocatalytic activity of titania NPs was found in optimal conditions, according to the findings (97%). The optimum amounts of catalyst dosage, initial pollutant concentration, irradiation time, and pH were obtained at 0.3 g/l, 1500 mg/l, 120 min, and 12, respectively. Furthermore, studies revealed that pH was the most efficient variable in comparison with others and that increasing the pH value from 8 to 12 boosted ammonia removal from 40 to 97%. NPs showed high stability as the ammonia removal decreased from 96.96% to 65% after four cycles. Generally, this research has created a precedent for the development of morphology-dependent photocatalysts for the degradation of organic contaminants. Graphical abstract