Rev Environ Health. 2014;29(1-2):109-12. doi: 10.1515/reveh-2014-0027.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major pollutants and are considered to be one of the most important contaminants generated by human beings living in urban and industrial areas. Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a VOC that has been widely used as a gasoline additive to reduce VOC emissions from motor vehicles. However, new gasoline additives like MTBE are having negative environmental impacts. Recent survey reports clearly show that groundwater is often polluted owing to leakage of petroleum products from underground storage tanks. MTBE is highly soluble in water (e.g., 0.35-0.71 M) and has been detected at high concentrations in groundwater. The presence of MTBE in groundwater poses a potential health problem. The documented effects of MTBE exposure are headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, cough, muscle aches, sleepiness, disorientation, dizziness, and skin and eye irritation. To address these problems, photocatalytic treatment is the preferred treatment for polluted water. In the present work, a simple and template-free solution phase synthesis method has been developed for the preparation of novel cadmium sulfide (CdS) hollow microspheres using cadmium nitrate and thioacetamide precursors. The synthesized products have been characterized by a variety of methods, including X-ray powder diffraction, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV-visible diffused reflectance spectroscopy. The HR-SEM measurements revealed the spherical morphology of the CdS microspheres, which evolved by the oriented aggregation of the primary CdS nanocrystals. Furthermore, studies of photocatalytic activity revealed that the synthesized CdS hollow microspheres exhibit an excellent photocatalytic performance in rapidly degrading MTBE in aqueous solution under visible light illumination. These results suggest that CdS microspheres will be an interesting candidate for photocatalytic detoxification studies under visible light radiation.
挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）是主要污染物，被认为是城市和工业区人类活动产生的最重要污染物之一。甲基叔丁基醚（MTBE）是一种已广泛用作汽油添加剂的 VOC，以减少机动车排放的 VOC。然而，像 MTBE 这样的新型汽油添加剂对环境产生了负面影响。最近的调查报告清楚地表明，由于地下储油罐中的石油产品泄漏，地下水经常受到污染。MTBE 在水中的溶解度很高（例如 0.35-0.71 M），并且在地下水中检测到高浓度的 MTBE。地下水存在 MTBE 会带来潜在的健康问题。MTBE 暴露的记录影响包括头痛、呕吐、腹泻、发烧、咳嗽、肌肉疼痛、嗜睡、迷失方向、头晕以及皮肤和眼睛刺激。为了解决这些问题，光催化处理是受污染水的首选处理方法。在本工作中，使用硝酸镉和硫代乙酰胺前体制备了一种新型硫化镉（CdS）空心微球的简单无模板溶液相合成方法。通过各种方法对合成产物进行了表征，包括 X 射线粉末衍射、高分辨率扫描电子显微镜（HR-SEM）、X 射线光电子能谱和紫外可见漫反射光谱。HR-SEM 测量结果显示了 CdS 微球的球形形态，这是由初级 CdS 纳米晶的定向聚集演变而来的。此外，光催化活性研究表明，所合成的 CdS 空心微球在可见光照射下，在水溶液中快速降解 MTBE 方面表现出优异的光催化性能。这些结果表明，CdS 微球将是可见光辐射下光催化解毒研究的一个有趣候选者。
