A new, cost-effective solar photoactive system N-ZnO@polyester fabric for degradation of recalcitrant compound in a continuous flow reactor

•A novel photoactive system with N-ZnO coated on polyester fabric is prepared.•The photoactive system possesses a homogeneous coating of N-ZnO particles.•The photoactive system shows remarkable absorbance in the visible-NIR region.•The photoactive system completely degrades amaranth within 15 h under solar light.•The photoactive system exhibits appreciable IUPAC figures-of-merit.

A novel solar photoactive system, consisting of N-ZnO particles coated on a polyester fabric (PF), is prepared using a simple heat attachment method. The photocatalytic activity of the photoactive system (N-ZnO@PF) for amaranth (AM) degradation is studied in a circulation thin-film fixed-bed reactor (TFFBR) under solar light. The presence of N-ZnO particles evenly coated on the PF surface is verified by XRD, ATR-FTIR, and SEM analyses. On the basis of DRS analysis, N-ZnO@PF is shown to have remarkable visible-NIR absorbance. N doping, which is confirmed by XPS and NEXAFS analyses, is responsible for a remarkable spectral response. As initial AM concentration, flow rate, reactor inclination, and salinity increases, the AM degradation decreases. AM degradation reaches to 99.2% at 10 mg/L concentration. The IUPAC figures-of-merit are comparable to those of some existing photoactive systems with advantages of simple construction, easy maintenance, and low costs of investment.

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