Photocatalytic behavior for the phenol degradation of ZnAl layered double hydroxide functionalized with SDS

Functionalized ZnAl layered double hydroxide based photocatalyst was obtained by the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) during the synthesis by the coprecipitation method, and further calcination at 400 °C. Bare and modified materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, IR, UV-Vis, EPR and XPS spectroscopies, SEM and HRTEM. The synthesized material was evaluated in the photodegradation of phenol in a 40 ppm aqueous solution (4.25 × 10^-4 mol of phenol/L), under UV light irradiation. An increasing in the degradation of phenol from 62 to 95%, and from 62 to 82% in the mineralization of phenol was obtained using SDS functionalized ZnAl LDH, in comparison with the unmodified material. This increase could be attributed to the presence of sulfate radicals, confirmed by the EPR study.