Doping ZnO with appropriate foreign metal and/or non-metal ions is one of the most promising ways to improve both the extension of ZnO photosensitization to the visible region and the separation of charge carriers. Herein, Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using a precipitation method. The effect of the Mn amount on the physico-chemical properties of these nanomaterials was investigated using X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The photocatalytic properties of the synthesized nanomaterials were assessed through methyl orange (MO) under visible light. The obtained results showed that the structural and optical properties of the synthesized Mn-ZnO nanomaterials depended greatly on the Mn amount. It was found that the substitution of Zn²⁺ by Mn²⁺/Mn³⁺ within the lattice of ZnO occurred. The photocatalytic experiments revealed that the sample containing 10 wt% exhibited the best MO conversion. For this sample, the discoloration reached 96%, while the chemical oxygen demand reached 1% after 820 min of visible illumination. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was attributed to the efficient separation of charge carriers. The active species quenching experiments showed that the holes are the main active species in MO degradation under visible light in the presence of 10%Mn-ZnO.

In this work, the phenols removal of phenol from water by raw clay (RCG) and calcined one at 1000 °C (CCG) of Goulmima city (Morocco) was investigated. The kinetics and isotherms experiments were also studied at pH = 4. The results indicated that the phenol adsorption reached equilibrium within 3 h, and the removal of phenol was enhanced at the same temperature by CCG (2.932 mg/g) adsorbent, compared to RCG (1.640 mg/g) due to the removal of organic matter by heat treatment, and an increase in adsorption temperature, indicating the endothermic process. The adsorbents were characterized by means of X-ray fluorescence, FTIR, XRD, B.E.T, and TGA/DTA analysis and showed that the clay consists essentially of silica and alumina. The experimental data were examined by using linear and nonlinear forms of the kinetics and the isotherms models. Based on the errors of the calculated values of R2 (Coefficient of determination), χ2 (Chi-square) and standard deviation (Δq (%)), it was found that the nonlinear forms of second-order kinetic model and Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson (R-P) isotherm models are best fit the experimental data for both adsorbents. However, the enthalpy ΔH° is less than 20 kJ/mol and the free energy ΔG° has a negative value, which shows that the adsorption is done physically and spontaneously on heterogeneous sites. The interest of this study is the use of FTIR and XRD to determine the effect of calcination on the phenol adsorption mechanism. However, the analysis of both adsorbents, before and after adsorption of phenol, shows that the adsorption mechanism of phenol is provided by the hydrogen bonding of the water molecules.

Chitosan was obtained from the alkaline N-deacetylation of -chitin, derived from shrimp shells (SS) collected from the Moroccan coast. Effects of temperature, NaOH concentration and reaction time on the kinetics of deacetylation were studied. The degree of deacetylation (DD = 75%) was obtained at T = 120 °C and CNaOH = 12N in a single step for 6h. It was found, from FTIR studies, that the removal of acetyl groups from chitin occur very fast for the reaction time t < 180 min and then becomes constant after, revealing two steps in the deacetylation of chitin following a first-order kinetics for each of them. The second step is considered the limiting step that has, in the temperature range of 25 – 120 °C and maintained CNaOH = 12N, a low apparent rate constant. The activation energy of this step is about 48.76 kJ/mol. The biopolymer (Chitin and chitosan) produced were characterized by X-ray diffraction.