Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The use of nanoparticles for to remove organic pollutants and heavy metals is a rapidly expanding field in environmental sciences. However, process optimization for practical, real-world applications is still underexplored. In this work, copper sulfide nanoparticles prepared from a single-source precursor were characterized using SEM, TEM, EDX, FTIR, and UV-visible spectroscopy. The copper sulfide nanoparticles demonstrated high photocatalytic degradation efficiency of trypan blue (TB) and brilliant green (BG) dyes. The as-prepared nanoparticles efficiently removed lead(II) (Pb2+) and chromium(VI) (Cr6+) ions. Response surface methodology (RSM) with a Box-Behnken design (BBD) was employed to optimize reaction time, pH, and nanoparticle dosage. The optimal conditions for TB degradation were pH 10.91, 77.46 minutes, and 4.999 g/L, while for BG, they were pH 3, 70 minutes, and 5 g/L. For Pb2+ removal, optimal conditions were pH 7.06, 100.38 minutes, and 0.94 g/L, and for Cr6+ removal, pH 3.03, 168.20 minutes, and 0.98 g/L. Under these optimal conditions, CuS nanoparticles achieved up to 99.35% degradation for TB, 100% for BG, 100% removal for Pb2+, and 98.54% for Cr6+. ANOVA confirmed the models' significance, with high regression coefficients (R²: 0.9852 for BG, 0.9846 for TB, 0.9980 for Pb2+, and 0.9901 for Cr6+). The CuS photocatalyst remained stable over three reuse cycles, with minimal efficiency reduction (8.88% for TB and 19.01% for BG). This study demonstrates the effectiveness of copper sulfide nanoparticles in environmental remediation and highlights the practicality of using RSM to optimize nanoparticles as efficient materials to remove organic dyes and heavy metal-laden wastewater.
Andrew et al. (Fri,) studied this question.