In this work, geopolymer synthesized with perlite and an alkaline activator medium was evaluated as a new adsorbent and photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye from an aqueous medium. The functional group, the structure, and the morphology of the raw and the synthesized materials were characterized using FT-IR, XRD, and SEM analysis. The degradation of MB in the contaminated solution was examined using the spectrophotometric technique. Several analysis methods revealed the formation of the aluminosilicate gel after the geopolymerization reaction. The kinetics data with UV and without UV irradiations were well fitted with the pseudo-second-order equation. The results indicated that the degradation efficiency of cationic dye by perlite-based geopolymer without and with UV was up to 88.94% and 97.87% in 4 hours, respectively. The degradation efficiencies of methylene blue are in the following order: perlite-based geopolymer under UV irradiations is greater than perlite-based geopolymer without UV irradiations that is larger than UV irradiations. The overall experimental results suggested that the new elaborated material with synergetic adsorption and photocatalytic activities has a great potential for the treatment of water contaminated by hazardous substances.
The absorption spectrum of single crystal NdF3 of tysonite structure was recorded at liquid helium temperature up to 33 800 cm−1. 127 Stark levels were obtained and fitted to a mean square deviation of 24 cm−1 with a Hamiltonian involving 12 free atom parameters and four D3h crystal field parameters. The fit was improved to a mean square deviation of 14 cm−1 by adding five supplementary crystal field parameters to approach the real C2 symmetry of the site. The paramagnetic susceptibilities parallel and perpendicular to the trigonal axis in the structure were measured from 4.2 to 1100 K and compared with the values derived from the wave vectors of the 18 lowest Kramers doublets through the application of the Van Vleck formula. An overall good agreement was found. The material is anisotropic, χ∥ being larger than χ⊥.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.