Semiconductor photocatalysis is an effective method used to degrade organophosphorus compounds. Here, the potential of a commonly mixed oxide semiconductor, ZnO/CuO, has been examined to degrade methyl parathion. Sono-coprecipitation method was used to provide ZnO/CuO nanocomposites, and it was applied to photocatalytic and sono-photocatalytic degradation of methyl parathion under solar light irradiation. Powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the synthesized samples. The optimal experimental conditions such as ZnO/CuO photocatalyst 90:10 M ratios, the initial concentration of 20 mg/L parathion, 1 g/L photocatalyst loading, no compressed air sparging, pH of 8, and ultrasonic power (60 W and 80 kHz) were used to degrade the parathion effectively. The parathion was fully (100% removal) degraded after 60 min sono-photoirradiation in the optimal experimental conditions. A real water sample was used to examine the ability of the ZnO/CuO photocatalyst 90:10 to remove the parathion in the water-soluble ions. Graphical abstract.
Keywords: Methyl parathion; Photocatalytic degradation; Semiconductor photocatalysis; Solar light irradiation; Sono-copercipitation; ZnO/CuO nanoparticles.