Visible-Light Photocatalyst for Water Treatment
Official patent title
g-C3N4@CuO/MgA12O4 nanocomposite for photocatalytic degradation of pollutants in contaminated water
Arabic title: مركب نانوي من g-C3N4@CuO/MgA12O4 للتحلل التحفيزي الضوئي للملوثات في المياه الملوثة
Invention
Invention
Problem
Industrial wastewater can contain persistent organic pollutants, while separation-based treatment may transfer rather than decompose them and some nanocomposite processes face high temperatures, long processing, poor uniformity, or limited reuse.
Why it matters
A visible-light photocatalyst could complement conventional water treatment, but degradation rate, mineralization, by-product safety, catalyst recovery, leaching, reuse, and performance in real wastewater require independent confirmation.
Approach
The method contacts pollutant-containing water with a g-C3N4@CuO/MgAl2O4 nanocomposite and irradiates it at 400–800 nm without UV light to drive photocatalytic degradation.
Who may benefit
Potential beneficiaries include industrial-water treatment developers, photocatalyst producers, textile and chemical processors, environmental laboratories, and researchers studying visible-light carbon-nitride/oxide hybrids.
Potential value
The disclosure links bounded component percentages, nanosheet and nanoparticle dimensions, pore properties, visible-light conditions, and a defined thermal synthesis route in one photocatalytic treatment method.
Background
Background
Wastewater may contain dyes, pesticides, plasticizers, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and metal ions. Ion exchange, precipitation, coagulation, membranes, reverse osmosis, and adsorption can separate or concentrate contaminants without necessarily decomposing organic molecules. Photocatalysis offers a chemical-degradation route, but nanocomposite manufacture can involve high temperatures, lengthy post-treatment, irregular particle sizes, inconsistent porosity, and limited reuse. The patent addresses these issues with a carbon-nitride/copper-oxide/magnesium-aluminate material intended to absorb visible light rather than requiring ultraviolet irradiation.
Technology overview
Technology overview
The claimed material contains 2–20 wt.% g-C3N4, 1–10 wt.% CuO, and 75–95 wt.% MgAl2O4. CuO and MgAl2O4 nanoparticles of 2–10 nm are dispersed on g-C3N4 nanosheets, and pore and phase characteristics are specified. Pollutant solution is contacted with the material and irradiated at 400–800 nm without UV light for 0.5–90 minutes at 10–50 °C. Synthesis mixes magnesium, aluminum, and copper salts with fuel, calcines at 600–800 °C, then heats with urea at 550–650 °C.
Potential applications
Potential applications
- Potential visible-light degradation of dyes in contaminated water.
- Potential polishing of industrial wastewater after primary treatment.
- Potential photocatalyst-material research under non-UV illumination.
- Potential reusable catalyst development after cycling validation.
Evidence-supported advantages
Evidence-supported advantages
- Operates within a claimed 400–800 nm irradiation range without UV light.
- Defines component weight ranges for all three principal phases.
- Specifies nanosheet, nanoparticle, and pore dimensions.
- Provides a corresponding salt, calcination, and urea synthesis route.
Development stage
Development stage
Patent publication describing material synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic testing; independent validation and commercialization were not established.
Commercial opportunity
Commercial opportunity
The approach may interest water-treatment and specialty-photocatalyst developers. Required validation includes pollutant-specific kinetics, mineralization and transformation products, complex-water interference, light-source efficiency, catalyst dose, separation and reuse, copper and other leaching, treated-water toxicity, reactor scale-up, synthesis reproducibility, energy use, and lifecycle cost.
Patent classifications
Patent classifications
WIPO IPC
- C01F5/22Compounds of beryllium, magnesium, aluminium, calcium, strontium, barium, radium, thorium or rare-earth metals
- B82Y30/00Specific uses or applications of nanostructures; measurement or analysis of nanostructures; manufacture or treatment of nanostructures
CPC
- B82Y30/00Specific uses or applications of nanostructures; measurement or analysis of nanostructures; manufacture or treatment of nanostructures
- C01B32/15Non-metallic elements; compounds thereof
- C01F5/22Compounds of beryllium, magnesium, aluminium, calcium, strontium, barium, radium, thorium or rare-earth metals
- C02F1/30Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
- C02F1/725Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
- C01B2204/22Non-metallic elements; compounds thereof
- C01B2204/32Non-metallic elements; compounds thereof
- C01P2002/01Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C01P2002/32Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C01P2002/77Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C01P2002/90Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C01P2004/04Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C01P2006/12Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C01P2006/14Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C01P2006/16Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C01P2006/40Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
- C02F2101/308Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
- C02F2305/10Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
Inventors
Inventors
- First inventorBabiker Yagoub Elhadi Abdulkhair
- InventorMohamed Khairy Abdel Fattah Omran
Keywords
Keywords
- g-C3N4
- CuO
- MgAl2O4
- photocatalysis
- visible light
- pollutant degradation
- contaminated water
- nanocomposite
Patent document and drawings
Patent document and drawings
The patent publication is mapped to this record. Patent drawings remain within that publication; no separately cleared public media package has been supplied.