CuO/ZnO coupled oxide films obtained by the electrodeposition technique and their photocatalytic activity in phenol degradation under solar irradiation.

CuO/ZnO coupled oxide films were electrodeposited onto an aluminum substrate and tested as photocatalysts in degradation of phenol molecules in aqueous solution under sunlight. The obtained films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of films was significant, especially to coupled oxide film with a CuO/ZnO ratio equal to 0.697, which presented about 70% degradation of the aromatic molecules and 42% of total organic carbon (TOC) removal at 300 min under solar irradiation. Therefore, this work highlights the potential application of CuO/ZnO coupled oxide films obtained by electrodeposition onto aluminum substrate in the field of photocatalysis.

Use of papaya seeds as a biosorbent of methylene blue from aqueous solution.

In this study papaya seeds were used to remove methylene blue dye from aqueous solution. Papaya seeds were characterized as possessing a macro/mesoporous texture and large pore size. Studies were carried out in batches to evaluate the effect of contact time and pH (2-12) on the removal of dye. It was observed that the adsorption of dye was better in the basic region (pH 12). The equilibrium data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Raduschkevich, Tempkin, Jovanovich, Redlich-Peterson, Sips, Toth and Radke-Prausnitz isotherms. The equilibrium data were best described by the Langmuir isotherm with a maximum adsorption capacity of 637.29 mg g(-1). Adsorption kinetic data were fitted using the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption kinetic is very fast and was best described by the pseudo-second-order model.