Performance of Biogenic Silica Photocatalytic Ceramic Foams and Cu-TiO2 NPs in the Degradation of Emerging Pollutants under Natural Solar Radiation

Emerging contaminants in the drinking water supply are a growing concern due to their presence in various sources and incomplete degradation occurring in conventional treatment plants. This underscores the need to implement alternative and specialized processes for their removal. Photocatalysis, an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yhosmary Franco, Jimmy Castillo, Juan C. Pereira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEREK Press 2025-06-01
Series:Environmental Science and Sustainable Development
Subjects:
Online Access:https://press.ierek.com/index.php/ESSD/article/view/1168
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850107063668047872
author Yhosmary Franco
Jimmy Castillo
Juan C. Pereira
author_facet Yhosmary Franco
Jimmy Castillo
Juan C. Pereira
author_sort Yhosmary Franco
collection DOAJ
description Emerging contaminants in the drinking water supply are a growing concern due to their presence in various sources and incomplete degradation occurring in conventional treatment plants. This underscores the need to implement alternative and specialized processes for their removal. Photocatalysis, an advanced oxidation process that uses radiation as the sole energy source, is emerging as a promising solution. In this study, the performance of novel photocatalytic materials was evaluated: ceramic foams synthesized from biomass, specifically biogenic silica obtained from rice husk, and copper-decorated titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Cu-TiO2 NPs). These foams were synthesized using the direct foaming method with CO2, an efficient and sustainable approach. Their performance was evaluated in the degradation of acetaminophen (ACP), an emerging contaminant of pharmaceutical origin, achieving a removal of 91.0% with a loading of 1.5 g/L, a time of 83 minutes and using natural solar radiation. The results obtained demonstrate that these ceramic foams have the potential to overcome current limitations and represent a significant advance towards the implementation of photocatalysis on an industrial and global scale.
format Article
id doaj-art-e6bfd07c960b4e3db21718ceee6fd229
institution OA Journals
issn 2357-0849
2357-0857
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher IEREK Press
record_format Article
series Environmental Science and Sustainable Development
spelling doaj-art-e6bfd07c960b4e3db21718ceee6fd2292025-08-20T02:38:40ZengIEREK PressEnvironmental Science and Sustainable Development2357-08492357-08572025-06-0110210.21625/essd.v10i2.1168Performance of Biogenic Silica Photocatalytic Ceramic Foams and Cu-TiO2 NPs in the Degradation of Emerging Pollutants under Natural Solar RadiationYhosmary Franco0Jimmy Castillo1Juan C. Pereira2PhD Candidate, Technological Chemistry, Experimental Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Carabobo, Valencia, VenezuelaFull Professor, School of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, VenezuelaFull Professor, Department of Chemistry, Experimental Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Carabobo, VenezuelaEmerging contaminants in the drinking water supply are a growing concern due to their presence in various sources and incomplete degradation occurring in conventional treatment plants. This underscores the need to implement alternative and specialized processes for their removal. Photocatalysis, an advanced oxidation process that uses radiation as the sole energy source, is emerging as a promising solution. In this study, the performance of novel photocatalytic materials was evaluated: ceramic foams synthesized from biomass, specifically biogenic silica obtained from rice husk, and copper-decorated titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Cu-TiO2 NPs). These foams were synthesized using the direct foaming method with CO2, an efficient and sustainable approach. Their performance was evaluated in the degradation of acetaminophen (ACP), an emerging contaminant of pharmaceutical origin, achieving a removal of 91.0% with a loading of 1.5 g/L, a time of 83 minutes and using natural solar radiation. The results obtained demonstrate that these ceramic foams have the potential to overcome current limitations and represent a significant advance towards the implementation of photocatalysis on an industrial and global scale. https://press.ierek.com/index.php/ESSD/article/view/1168PhotocatalysisCeramic foamBiogenic silicaTitanium dioxideEmerging contaminants.
spellingShingle Yhosmary Franco
Jimmy Castillo
Juan C. Pereira
Performance of Biogenic Silica Photocatalytic Ceramic Foams and Cu-TiO2 NPs in the Degradation of Emerging Pollutants under Natural Solar Radiation
Environmental Science and Sustainable Development
Photocatalysis
Ceramic foam
Biogenic silica
Titanium dioxide
Emerging contaminants.
title Performance of Biogenic Silica Photocatalytic Ceramic Foams and Cu-TiO2 NPs in the Degradation of Emerging Pollutants under Natural Solar Radiation
title_full Performance of Biogenic Silica Photocatalytic Ceramic Foams and Cu-TiO2 NPs in the Degradation of Emerging Pollutants under Natural Solar Radiation
title_fullStr Performance of Biogenic Silica Photocatalytic Ceramic Foams and Cu-TiO2 NPs in the Degradation of Emerging Pollutants under Natural Solar Radiation
title_full_unstemmed Performance of Biogenic Silica Photocatalytic Ceramic Foams and Cu-TiO2 NPs in the Degradation of Emerging Pollutants under Natural Solar Radiation
title_short Performance of Biogenic Silica Photocatalytic Ceramic Foams and Cu-TiO2 NPs in the Degradation of Emerging Pollutants under Natural Solar Radiation
title_sort performance of biogenic silica photocatalytic ceramic foams and cu tio2 nps in the degradation of emerging pollutants under natural solar radiation
topic Photocatalysis
Ceramic foam
Biogenic silica
Titanium dioxide
Emerging contaminants.
url https://press.ierek.com/index.php/ESSD/article/view/1168
work_keys_str_mv AT yhosmaryfranco performanceofbiogenicsilicaphotocatalyticceramicfoamsandcutio2npsinthedegradationofemergingpollutantsundernaturalsolarradiation
AT jimmycastillo performanceofbiogenicsilicaphotocatalyticceramicfoamsandcutio2npsinthedegradationofemergingpollutantsundernaturalsolarradiation
AT juancpereira performanceofbiogenicsilicaphotocatalyticceramicfoamsandcutio2npsinthedegradationofemergingpollutantsundernaturalsolarradiation