Photocatalytic decomposition of phenol by nanocomposite of ZnS nanoparticles and montmorillonite

Abstract

The nanocomposite of ZnS nanoparticles stabilized by cetyltrimethylammonium ions (ZnS-CTA) and montmorillonite (ZnS-CTA-MMT) was prepared and used as a catalyst for the photodecomposition of phenol under UV irradiation of a medium pressure Hg lamp. The content of ZnS in ZnS-CTA-MMT was about 7 wt.%. For comparison, the photodecomposition was also performed with ZnS-CTA, montmorillonite and with no catalyst, i.e., using only UV irradiation. The photodecomposition efficiency decreased in the order: UV + ZnS-CTA-MMT ≈ UV + ZnS-CTA > UV > UV + MMT. The photodecomposition in the presence of ZnS-CTA-MMT and ZnS-CTA proceeded according to the pseudo-first order reaction kinetics. In other cases, the photodecomposition corresponded to the pseudo-second order reaction of phenol and hydroxyl radicals. Hydroxyl radicals were produced by reactions of dissolved oxygen and electrons released from the ZnS nanoparticles and excited phenol molecules. MMT decreased the photodecomposition reaction rate and no MMT catalytic activity was observed.