Photodegradation of HMX and RDX in the Presence of Nanocatalyst of Zinc Sulfide Doped with Copper

Nanoparticles of zinc sulfide as undoped and doped with copper were used as photocatalyst in the photodegradation of HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine) and RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) as nitramine explosives under UV and Vis irradiations. Photoreactivity of doped zinc sulfide was varied with dopant, mole fraction of dopant to zinc ion, pH of solution, dosage of photocatalyst and concentration of explosive. The characterization of nanoparticles was studied using XRD patterns, UV-Vis spectra and TEM image. The maximum degradation efficiency was obtained in the presence of Zn0.95Cu0.05S as nanophoto-catalyst. The effect of dosage of photocatalyst was studied in the range of 50-200 mg/L. It was seen that 150.0 mg/L of photocatacyst is an optimum value for the dosage of photocatalyst. The most degradation efficiency was obtained in neutral pH of 7.0 with study of photodegradation in pH amplitude of 2-12. In the best conditions, the degradation efficiency of HMX and RDX was obtained 92-94 %. A gradual decrease in the degradation efficiency was observed at the first two cycles.