Paola Semeraro

Dr. Paola Semeraro

Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche e Ambientali, Università del Salento
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

12Years (2015-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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25 July 2020 in Nanomaterials
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Journal Article
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Paola SemeraroPaola Semeraro
Paola Semeraro
Simona BettiniSimona Bettini
Simona Bettini
SSShadi Sawalha
Shadi Sawalha
Sudipto PalSudipto Pal
Sudipto Pal
ALAntonio Licciulli
Antonio Licciulli
Gabriele GiancaneGabriele Giancane
Gabriele Giancane
In recent years, the presence of numerous xenobiotic substances, such as antibiotics, has been detected in water environments. They can be considered as environmental contaminants, even if their effect on human health has yet to be totally understood. Several approaches have been studied for the removal of these kinds of pollutants. Among these compounds, tetracycline (TC), a broad-spectrum antibiotic, is one of the most commonly found in water due to its widespread use. In the context of reducing the presence of TC in aqueous solution, in this contribution, a composite catalyst based on zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron oxide (γ-Fe2O3) was developed and its photocatalytic properties were investigated. The catalytic materials were synthesized by a microwave-assisted aqueous solution method and characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Brunauer−Emmett−Teller (BET) analysis. The TC concentration was evaluated by spectrophotometer measurements at specific time intervals. The performed photocatalytic experiments clearly demonstrated that the ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 composite catalyst presents significant photocatalytic activity, indeed a TC degradation efficiency of 88.52% was registered after 150 min. The presence of iron oxide in the structure of the catalyst enhances both the surface area and the pore volume, facilitating the adsorption of the analyte on the surface of nanostructures, a fundamental phase to optimize a photodegradation process. Moreover, ZnO was found to play the key role in the photocatalytic process assisted by γ-Fe2O3 which enhanced the TC degradation efficiency by 20%.



1 April 2018 in Materials Science and Engineering: C
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Journal Article
Closed access
Paola SemeraroPaola Semeraro
Paola Semeraro
GCGuglielmina Chimienti
Guglielmina Chimienti
Emiliano AltamuraEmiliano Altamura
Emiliano Altamura
Paola FiniPaola Fini
Paola Fini
Vito RizziVito Rizzi
Vito Rizzi
PCPinalysa Cosma
Pinalysa Cosma

1 August 2015 in Dyes and Pigments
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Journal Article
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Paola SemeraroPaola Semeraro
Paola Semeraro
Vito RizziVito Rizzi
Vito Rizzi
Paola FiniPaola Fini
Paola Fini
SMSergio Matera
Sergio Matera
PCPinalysa Cosma
Pinalysa Cosma
MFMiguel Ferrándiz
Miguel Ferrándiz

1 November 2019 in Environmental Technology & Innovation
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Journal Article
Closed access
RRRoberto Romita
Roberto Romita
VRVito Rizzi
Vito Rizzi
Paola SemeraroPaola Semeraro
Paola Semeraro
Jennifer GubitosaJennifer Gubitosa
Jennifer Gubitosa
José Antonio GabaldónJosé Antonio Gabaldón
José Antonio Gabaldón
Paola FiniPaola Fini
Paola Fini