Teodora Vidović, Ivana Jagodić, Nemanja Banić^*

University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Trg D. Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia

^*nemanja.banic@dh.uns.ac.rs

https://doi.org/10.65614/uisk_yucorr.2025.26.ch18

Abstract

The growing attention to energy and environmental challenges has sparked increased interest in the development and application of clean and renewable energy sources. In particular, photocatalytic water splitting as a method for obtaining hydrogen has been highlighted as a promising alternative to fossil fuels due to its renewable and environmentally friendly nature, based on solar energy. On the other hand, the increase in industrial activity, which involves the intensive production, application, and discharge of various chemicals, often leads to significant pollution of water resources. The main challenge is how to reduce the generation and harmful effects of pollutants, so improved methods have been developed to remove certain pollutants from the aquatic environment. Organic dyes are widely used in various industrial sectors, such as textile production, the food industry, and the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. It is important to note that about 10-15% of the dyes used in the dyeing process end up in wastewater, which poses a risk of pollution of aquatic ecosystems. The photocatalytic method is one of the methods for removing organic dyes and is an effective method for purifying water systems, as it manages to mineralize stable pollutants that cannot be removed by other methods. It can be applied in combination with solar radiation, which is an available and environmentally friendly source of energy. To achieve a certain efficiency in removing organic dyes, photocatalysts, which are semiconductor materials, are used. Six materials (Ag : commercial support of 2.5% (w/w)) were synthesized by the photochemical reduction method of Ag on different commercial supports. The photocatalytic efficiency of these nanopowders for hydrogen production and fluorescein removal under simulated solar irradiation was investigated. The highest efficiency in terms of hydrogen generation rate was demonstrated by Ag/TiO₂ Reaktiv (14.8 μmol/hg H₂), while the other catalysts had lower efficiency in terms of hydrogen generation rate in the time interval of 300 min. The kinetics of fluorescein removal using the above-mentioned photocatalysts was monitored photometrically. Under simulated solar irradiation, the 2.5%Ag/ZnO catalyst proved to be the most efficient, with a photodegradation efficiency of 96.9% after 120 min. The synthesized materials did not show significant fluorescein adsorption efficiency, with adsorption ranging from 0.3% for 2.5%Ag/ZnO to 24.9% for 2.5%Ag/TiO₂ Hombikat after 120 min.