The removal and photodecomposition of n-nonylphenol using hydrophobic clay incorporated with copper-phthalocyanine in aqueous media

In order to achieve the effective removal and decomposition of n-nonylphenol (Np), an endocrine disruption chemical with poor solubility, tenuously dispersed in environmental water, the synthesis and characterization of a hydrophobic clay (HpC) with copper-phthalocyanine (CuPC) were investigated. The HpC powders were prepared by intercalating the cetyltrimethylammonium cations (CTA+) into montmorillonite (Mont) interlayers. The HpC compound incorporated with CTA+ molecules and equal to the cation-exchangeable capacity (CEC) of Mont were found to adsorb almost completely the Np molecules from the aqueous solution by the hydrophobic interaction between the alkyl chains of the CTA+ and Np molecules. The CuPC molecules were incorporated with the HpC compound in order to add the photodecomposition properties of CuPC to the HpC compound. This HpC/CuPC hybrid efficiently adsorbed the Np molecules from the polluted water, too. Visible-light irradiation of the Np aqueous HpC/CuPC hybrid suspension under O2 atmosphere at 620 nm decomposed the Np molecules having been adsorbed at the hydrophobic spaces of the HpC/CuPC hybrid materials, forming quinonmethane molecules by the singlet oxygen produced by the photosensitization reaction of the cointercalated CuPC molecules.