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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Nanomaterials

Tribocatalytic Removal of Anionic and Cationic Dyes Using Pristine and Gd-, Dy-, and Er-Modified ZnO Nanorods

  • Bozhidar I. Stefanov1
  • Lyudmila Krasteva2
  • Stanislava Todorova3
  • Iliyana Yordanova4
  • Simona Delibaltova4
  • Hristo Kolev4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Technology, Technical University of Sofia, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
  2. 2Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Technical College—Sofia, Technical University of Sofia, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
  3. 3Department of Applied Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sofia, 1 James Bourchier Blvd., 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria
  4. 4Institute of Catalysis, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, “Acad. G. Bonchev” Str., Bl. 11, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
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Abstract

Tribocatalysis is an emerging approach for the oxidation of organic pollutants using frictional energy. ZnO nanorods were prepared by thermal decomposition of zinc acetate dihydrate and wet-chemically modified with Gd2O3, Dy2O3, or Er2O3. SEM, nitrogen sorption, XRD, ATR-FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS confirmed the formation of predominantly rod-like ZnO, preservation of its morphology and wurtzite structure after modification, and introduction of nanocrystalline RE2O3 phases. Tribocatalytic activity was evaluated under mechanical stirring using the anionic dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and the cationic dye Brilliant Green (BG), examining the effects of RE modification, stirring rate, friction pair, scavengers, and catalyst reuse. Removal increased with stirring rate and was consistently higher for RB5. At 800 rpm, Er:ZnO exhibited the highest activity toward both dyes, reaching approximately 81% RB5 removal (kapp ≈ 0.074 h−1) and 56% BG removal (kapp ≈ 0.040 h−1) after 24 h. COD removal reached 53–60% for RB5 and 27–43% for BG, indicating a reduction in the oxidizable organic load consistent with partial mineralization. ATR-FTIR revealed carbonate formation and PTFE transfer to recovered catalysts, highlighting surface changes and secondary contamination. The results demonstrate measurable tribocatalytic activity and show that the benefits of RE modification depend on the target dye.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{stefanov2026tribocatalytic,
  title = {{Tribocatalytic Removal of Anionic and Cationic Dyes Using Pristine and Gd-, Dy-, and Er-Modified ZnO Nanorods}},
  author = {Bozhidar I. Stefanov and Lyudmila Krasteva and Stanislava Todorova and Iliyana Yordanova and Simona Delibaltova and Hristo Kolev},
  journal = {Nanomaterials},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3390/nano16211352},
  url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/16/21/1352},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Tribocatalytic Removal of Anionic and Cationic Dyes Using Pristine and Gd-, Dy-, and Er-Modified ZnO Nanorods
AU  - Bozhidar I. Stefanov
AU  - Lyudmila Krasteva
AU  - Stanislava Todorova
AU  - Iliyana Yordanova
AU  - Simona Delibaltova
AU  - Hristo Kolev
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/24
JO  - Nanomaterials
DO  - 10.3390/nano16211352
UR  - https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/16/21/1352
AB  - Tribocatalysis is an emerging approach for the oxidation of organic pollutants using frictional energy. ZnO nanorods were prepared by thermal decomposition of zinc acetate dihydrate and wet-chemically modified with Gd2O3, Dy2O3, or Er2O3. SEM, nitrogen sorption, XRD, ATR-FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS confirmed the formation of predominantly rod-like ZnO, preservation of its morphology and wurtzite structure after modification, and introduction of nanocrystalline RE2O3 phases. Tribocatalytic activity was evaluated under mechanical stirring using the anionic dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and the cationic dye Brilliant Green (BG), examining the effects of RE modification, stirring rate, friction pair, scavengers, and catalyst reuse. Removal increased with stirring rate and was consistently higher for RB5. At 800 rpm, Er:ZnO exhibited the highest activity toward both dyes, reaching approximately 81% RB5 removal (kapp ≈ 0.074 h−1) and 56% BG removal (kapp ≈ 0.040 h−1) after 24 h. COD removal reached 53–60% for RB5 and 27–43% for BG, indicating a reduction in the oxidizable organic load consistent with partial mineralization. ATR-FTIR revealed carbonate formation and PTFE transfer to recovered catalysts, highlighting surface changes and secondary contamination. The results demonstrate measurable tribocatalytic activity and show that the benefits of RE modification depend on the target dye.
SN  - 2079-4991
ER  -