Novel hydrochar-modified hydrozincite designed and applied for the efficient degradation of pollutants in wastewater treatment

Abstract

In the present study, materials based on hydrochar modified with hydrozincite were designed, varying the weight percentage of hydrozincite. The hydrozincite was prepared via a chemical co-precipitation method using thermal urea hydrolysis without any prior activation or calcination process. The hydrochar modified with hydrozincite was synthesized using a hydrothermal method at 300°C. These materials were applied in the photodegradation of contaminants. The characterization of these materials revealed that the presence of heterojunctions and oxygen vacancies plays a crucial role in the photocatalytic reaction mechanism. These materials were evaluated under UV light and a solar light simulator. The material that exhibited the highest photodegradation percentage contained 10 % by weight of hydrozincite. This suggests that these materials could be a promising alternative for the decomposition of such pollutants present in wastewater.