Impacts of Annealing Temperature on Morphological, Optical and Photocatalytic Properties of Gel-Combustion-Derived LaFeO
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RESEARCH ARTICLE-CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Impacts of Annealing Temperature on Morphological, Optical and Photocatalytic Properties of Gel-Combustion-Derived LaFeO3 Nanoparticles N. Yahya1 · F. Aziz1,2
· J. Jaafar1,2 · W. J. Lau1,2 · N. Yusof1,2 · W. N. W. Salleh1,2 · A. F. Ismail1,2 · M. Aziz1,3
Received: 28 April 2020 / Accepted: 13 August 2020 © King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2020
Abstract In this study, LaFeO3 photocatalyst had been synthesized via a gel combustion method using glucose and citric acid as dual chelating agents. Furthermore, the effect of different calcination temperatures (400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C) on the physicochemical properties of the synthesized LaFeO3 were also investigated. From the study, LaFeO3 nanoparticles calcined at 400 °C were selected as the most promising photocatalyst due to their amorphous nature which benefits from the presence of a surface defect. In addition, the amorphous LaFeO3 also recorded the highest surface area with a value of 70.02 m2 /g which contributed to the enhancement of photocatalytic activity for the degradation of humic acid (HA). Besides that, effect of operational parameters such as photocatalyst loading (0.6–1.20 g/L), initial concentration of HA (10–40 mg/L) and aeration (presence of oxygen) for HA degradation under visible light irradiation was studied using the amorphous LaFeO3 . Overall, the optimal values for degradation of HA were observed at a catalyst loading of 1.0 g/L and initial concentration of 10 mg/L. In a nutshell, the perovskite-based photocatalyst was successfully synthesized where the amorphous LaFeO3 outperformed the crystalline LaFeO3 as regards higher reaction rate constant 0.0305 min−1 (amorphous; 400 °C) compared to 0.0250 min−1 (crystalline; 500 °C) and 0.01329 min−1 (crystalline; 600 °C), respectively. Keywords Chelating agents · Crystallinity · Low temperature · Gel combustion method · Amorphous
1 Introduction Humic acid (HA) is a major natural organic matter (NOM) component. The formation of HA is usually initiated by the breakdown of animal carcasses and plant residues and can be vastly found in the aquatic system, including surface and ground water [1]. The structure of HA is more prevalent with phenolic and carboxylic groups. In the past decades, the penetration of HA into water sources via drainages into water bodies is worryingly increasing. According to experts,
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F. Aziz [email protected]; [email protected]
1
Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
2
School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
3
Faculty of Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
climate change is the main factor that contributes to this increment [2, 3]. It is known that floods, droughts, rainfalls, snowmelt runoffs are example of events which are resulted from climate changes [4]. Moreover, it has been reported that vi
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