Simultaneous Removal of Cu(II) and Cr(VI) Ions from Wastewater by Photoreduction with TiO2–ZrO2

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2019.101052
• Publication Date: 2019-11-13T11:17:00Z
• Authors: Runhua Yan; Dingyuan Luo; Chengyu Fu; Wen Tian; Pan Wu; Ying Wang; Hao Zhang; Wei Jiang
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 6. Clean water; 0104 chemical sciences

Abstract A solid solution photocatalyst, TiO2–ZrO2, was used to simultaneously remove coexisting Cu(II) and Cr(VI) from wastewater by photoreduction. Results showed that the two heavy metal ions can be effectively removed from the hybrid wastewater simultaneously by Ti0.95Zr0.05 under UV irradiation with HCOOH–HCOONa as the sacrificial agent. The obtained water reached the discharge standards, with a Cr(VI) concentration of 0.5 mg/L at 5 min and a Cu(II) concentration of 0.11 mg/L at 17 min. The solid solution exhibited excellent stability after four cycles, with Cr(VI) and Cu(II) removal rates of 100% and 91%, respectively. However, reduction of Cr(VI) was observed first, and Cu(II) was subsequently reduced at an accelerated rate. This behavior was ascribed to the stronger oxidization of Cr(VI) compared to Cu(II) and the Schottky effect of photodeposited Cu.