Eco-friendly synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles: applications in adsorption of phenolic compounds and supporting theoretical calculations
摘要
TiO2 NPs are synthesized using thymus vulgaris leaf extract and then used as nano-sorbent surfaces to remove PHE, PNP, and PMP from water-based systems. The operational parameters affecting water treatment efficiency including sorbent dose, pH, agitation time, temperature, and adsorbate initial concentrations were investigated and adjusted. The maximum PHE, PNP, and PMP removal were 95%, 72.17%, and 87.88%, respectively. Adsorption kinetic and isotherm studies proved that the adsorption data obeyed the pseudo-2nd order kinetic and Temkin isotherm model. In addition, the adsorption thermodynamic investigation demonstrated that the adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic; the adsorption thermodynamic investigation demonstrated that the adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic, with an increase in randomness at the solid–solution interface compared to the initial state. Based on the various results obtained by DFT studies, it can be concluded that TiO2 NPs can interact effectively with phenolic compounds (PHE, PMP and PNP). As a result, TiO2 NPs have a significant capacity to eliminate these phenolic compounds, making them particularly promising for treatment and decontamination applications.