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Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World 35
Mu. Naushad
Saravanan Rajendran
Eric Lichtfouse Editors
Green
Methods for
Wastewater
Treatment
Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable
World
Volume 35
Series Editors
Eric Lichtfouse, Aix Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRA, Coll France,
CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France
Jan Schwarzbauer, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Didier Robert, CNRS, European Laboratory for Catalysis and Surface Sciences,
Saint-Avold, France
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Mu. Naushad • Saravanan Rajendran
Eric Lichtfouse
Editors
Green Methods for

Wastewater Treatment
Editors
Mu. Naushad Saravanan Rajendran
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering,
College of Science Department of Mechanical Engineering
King Saud University University of Tarapacá
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Arica, Chile
Eric Lichtfouse
Aix Marseille University
CNRS, IRD, INRA, Coll France,
CEREGE
Aix-en-Provence, France
ISSN 2213-7114 ISSN 2213-7122 (electronic)

Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World
ISBN 978-3-030-16426-3 ISBN 978-3-030-16427-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16427-0
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

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Preface
Water is the most precious gifts of the nature to mankind; it is difficult even to
imagine a form of life that might exist without water. However, due to the rapid pace
of industrialization and tremendous increase in the population, the contamination of
water resources has occurred globally. Recently, several health organisation reports
described various water-related diseases can easily kill more than millions of people
every year including children.
In this scenario, this book is described in the detailed account of different green
methods for wastewater treatment. The applications of various types of materials like
mesoporous materials, TiO2-based nanocomposites and magnetic nanoparticles for
wastewater treatment are discussed in this book. The role of catalysts along with
their chemical reactions, challenges, past developments and direction for further
research of wastewater treatment methods has been also discussed in this book.
Furthermore, various treatment methods like photo-Fenton, photocatalysis, electro-
chemical approach and adsorption were defined in more depth. Moreover, the
bacterial infection and antibacterial solution have been also included in detail. I
believe this book will be helpful for chemical engineers, environmental scientists,
analytical chemist, materials scientists and all researchers who are working in the
field of wastewater treatment.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Mu. Naushad

Arica, Chile Saravanan Rajendran
Aix-en-Provence, France Eric Lichtfouse
v
Acknowledgements
First of all, we thank God for providing us good health and valuable opportunity to
accomplish this book successfully.
In our journey towards this book, our heartfelt thanks to series editor and advisory
board for accepting our book as a part of the series “Environmental Chemistry for a
Sustainable World” and for their support and encouragement. We extend our sincere
thanks to all authors and reviewers for providing hard work and genuine support to
complete this book. We have great pleasure in acknowledging various publishers
and authors for permitting us the copyright to use their figures and tables. We would
still like to offer our deep apologies to any copyright holder if unknowingly their
right is being infringed.
Dr. Mu. Naushad expresses his deep gratitude to the Chairman, Department of
Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, and extends his
appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for the
support.
R. Saravanan would like to express his sincere thanks to Prof. Francisco Gracia
(DIQBT, University of Chile), Prof. Lorena Cornejo Ponce (EUDIM, Universidad
de Tarapacá) and Prof. Rodrigo Palma (Director, SERC) for their constant encour-
agement and valuable support that helped him to complete the task. He further
extends his thanks to the Government of Chile (CONICYT-FONDECYT-Project
No.: 11170414), SERC (CONICYT/FONDAP/15110019) and School of mechani-
cal Engineering (EUDIM), Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile, for their financial
support.
Mu. Naushad
Saravanan Rajendran
Eric Lichtfouse
vii
Contents
1 Visible-Light-Responsive Nanostructured Materials

for Photocatalytic Degradation of Persistent Organic
Pollutants in Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Hugues Kamdem Paumo, Raghunath Das, Madhumita Bhaumik,
and Arjun Maity
2 Surface Modification of Highly Magnetic Nanoparticles
for Water Treatment to Remove Radioactive Toxins . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Arun Thirumurugan, Ali Akbari-Fakhrabadi, and R. Justin Joseyphus
3 FeS2 Pyrite Nanostructures: An Efficient Performer
in Photocatalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Gurpreet Kaur, Manjot Kaur, Anup Thakur, and Akshay Kumar
4 Green Synthesized Metal Oxide Nanomaterials Photocatalysis
in Combating Bacterial Infection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Prajita Paul, Yashmin Pattnaik, Pritam Kumar Panda, Ealisha Jha,
Suresh K. Verma, and Mrutyunjay Suar
5 Progression in Fenton Process for the Wastewater Treatment . . . . . 87
S. Kaviya
6 Electrochemical Aspects for Wastewater Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
A. Dennyson Savariraj, R. V. Mangalaraja, K. Prabakar,
and C. Viswanathan
7 TiO2-Based Nanocomposites for Photodegradation
of Organic Dyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Eswaran Prabakaran, Shepherd Sambaza, and Kriveshini Pillay
8 Light-Activated Nanoparticles for Antibacterial Studies . . . . . . . . . 185
Krishnapriya Madhu Varier, Wuling Liu, Yaacov Ben-David,
Yanmei Li, Arulvasu Chinnasamy, and Babu Gajendran
ix
x Contents
9 Green Technologies for Wastewater Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

T. Vasantha and N. V. V. Jyothi
10 Mesoporous Materials for Degradation of Textile Dyes . . . . . . . . . . 255
Diana V. Wellia, Yuly Kusumawati, Lina J. Diguna, Nurul Pratiwi,
Reza A. Putri, and Muhamad I. Amal
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
About the Editors
Mu. Naushad is presently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of

Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia. He obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, in 2002 and 2007, respectively. He has
a vast research experience in the multidisciplinary fields of Analytical Chemistry,
Materials Chemistry and Environmental Science. He holds several US patents, over
275 publications in the international journals of repute, 20 book chapters and several
books published by renowned international publishers. He has >7200 citations with a
Google Scholar h-index of >52. He has successfully run several research projects
funded by the National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (NPST) and
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. He is the Editor/Editorial Member of several reputed journals like Scientific
Reports (Nature), Process Safety and Environmental Protection (Elsevier), Journal of
Water Process Engineering (Elsevier) and International Journal of Environmental
Research and Public Health (MDPI). He is also the Associate Editor for Environmental
Chemistry Letters (Springer) and Desalination and Water Treatment (Taylor and
Francis). He has been awarded the Scientist of the Year Award 2015 from the National
Environmental Science Academy, New Delhi, India, Scientific Research Quality
Award 2019, King Saud University and Almarai Award 2017, Saudi Arabia.
Saravanan Rajendran has received his Ph.D. in Physics-Material Science in 2013

from the Department of Nuclear Physics, University of Madras, Chennai, India. He
was awarded the University Research Fellowship (URF) during the year 2009–2011
by the University of Madras. After working as an Assistant Professor in
Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering, Chennai, India, during the year 2013–
2014, he was awarded SERC and CONICYT-FONDECYT Postdoctoral Fellow-
ship, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile, in the year 2014–2017. He has worked
(2017–2018) in the research group of Professor John Irvine, School of Chemistry,
University of St Andrews, UK, as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within
xi
xii About the Editors
the framework of an EPSRC-Global Challenges Research Fund for the removal of

blue-green algae and their toxins. Currently, he is working as a Research Scientist in
the School of Mechanical Engineering (EUDIM), University of Tarapacá, Arica,
Chile, as well as a Research Associate in SERC, University of Chile, Santiago,
Chile. He is Associate Editor for International Journal of Environmental Science and
Technology (Springer). His research interests focuses in the area of nanostructured
functional materials, photophysics, surface chemistry and nanocatalysts for renew-
able energy and waste water purification. He has published several international
peer-reviewed journals, five book chapters and three books published by renowned
international publishers.
Eric Lichtfouse (Ph.D.), born in 1960, is an Environmental Chemist working at the

University of Aix-Marseille, France. He has invented carbon-13 dating, a method
allowing to measure the relative age and turnover of molecular organic compounds
occurring in different temporal pools of any complex media. He is teaching scientific
writing and communication and has published the book Scientific Writing for Impact
Factor Journals, which includes a new tool – the micro-article – to identify the
novelty of research results. He is Founder and Chief Editor of scientific journals and
series in environmental chemistry and agriculture. He got the Analytical Chemistry
Prize by the French Chemical Society, the Grand Prize of the Universities of Nancy
and Metz and a Journal Citation Award by the Essential Indicators.
About the Authors
Ali Akbari-Fakhrabadi Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechan-

ical Engineering, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Muhamad I. Amal Research Center Metallurgy and Materials, Indonesian Institute
of Sciences, Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia
Yaacov Ben-David Department of Biology and Chemistry, The Key Laboratory of
Chemistry for Natural Products of Guizhou Province and Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Guizhou, China
State Key Laboratory of Functions and Applications of Medicinal Plants, Guizhou
Medical University, Guiyang, China
Madhumita Bhaumik Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannes-
burg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Arulvasu Chinnasamy Department of Zoology, University of Madras, Chennai,
India
Raghunath Das Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg,
Johannesburg, South Africa
Lina J. Diguna Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Prasetiya Mulya
University, Tangerang, Indonesia
Babu Gajendran Department of Biology and Chemistry, The Key Laboratory of
Chemistry for Natural Products of Guizhou Province and Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Guizhou, China
Ealisha Jha Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial Uni-
versity of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, NL, Canada
xiii
xiv About the Authors
R. Justin Joseyphus Magnetic Materials Laboratory, National Institute of Tech-

nology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
N. V. V. Jyothi Department of Chemistry, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati,
Andhra Pradesh, India
Gurpreet Kaur Advanced Functional Materials Laboratory, Department of Nano-
technology, Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab,
India
Manjot Kaur Advanced Functional Materials Laboratory, Department of Nano-
India
S. Kaviya Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Akshay Kumar Advanced Functional Materials Laboratory, Department of Nano-
India
Yuly Kusumawati Chemistry Department, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Tech-
nology, Surabaya, Indonesia
Wuling Liu Department of Biology and Chemistry, The Key Laboratory of Chem-
istry for Natural Products of Guizhou Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Guizhou, China
Yanmei Li Department of Biology and Chemistry, The Key Laboratory of Chem-
istry for Natural Products of Guizhou Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Guizhou, China
Arjun Maity Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg,
DST/CSIR National Centre for Nanostructured Materials, Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa
R. V. Mangalaraja Advanced Ceramics and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Depart-
ment of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Concepcion,
Concepcion, Chile
Technological Development Unit (UDT), University of Concepcion, Coronel, Chile
Pritam Kumar Panda Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Univer-
sity Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
About the Authors xv
Yashmin Pattnaik School of Biotechnology, KIIT Deemed to be University,

Bhubaneswar, India
Prajita Paul School of Biotechnology, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubanes-
war, India
Hugues Kamdem Paumo Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johan-
nesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Kriveshini Pillay Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg,
Eswaran Prabakaran Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannes-
K. Prabakar Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Pusan National
University, Busan, South Korea
Nurul Pratiwi Chemistry Department, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia
Reza A. Putri Chemistry Department, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia
Shepherd Sambaza Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannes-
A. Dennyson Savariraj Advanced Ceramics and Nanotechnology Laboratory,
Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of
Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile
Mrutyunjay Suar School of Biotechnology, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhu-
baneswar, India
Anup Thakur Department of Basic and Applied Sciences, Punjabi University,
Patiala, Punjab, India
Arun Thirumurugan Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Krishnapriya Madhu Varier Department of Medical Biochemistry, Dr. ALM
PGIBMS, University of Madras, Chennai, India
Department of Zoology, University of Madras, Chennai, India
T. Vasantha Department of Chemistry, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati,
Andhra Pradesh, India
Suresh K. Verma School of Biotechnology, KIIT Deemed to be University,
Bhubaneswar, India
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
C. Viswanathan Department of Nanoscience and Technology, Bharathiar Univer-
sity, Coimbatore, India
Diana V. Wellia Chemistry Department, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia
Chapter 1
Visible-Light-Responsive Nanostructured
Materials for Photocatalytic Degradation
of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Water
Hugues Kamdem Paumo, Raghunath Das, Madhumita Bhaumik,

and Arjun Maity
Contents
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Classifications of POPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Toxicity of POPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 Traditional Water Treatment Processes for the Removal of POPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Fundamental of Heterogeneous Photocatalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.6 Overview of Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalysts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6.1 TiO2-Based Photocatalysts for Visible-Light-Assisted Degradation of POPs . . . . 12
1.6.2 Alternative Photocatalysts for Visible-Light-Assisted Degradation of POPs . . . . . 17
1.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Abstract Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls

and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons consist of a group of synthetic compounds
that are characterized by their resistance to degradation, important long-range
transportation, and harmful effects to the ecosystems and human well-being. Cer-
tainly, we cannot think about progress in human civilization without industrializa-
tion. However, the rapid evolution in chemical, agrochemical, and petrochemical
industries and the population exponential growth in the last century have given rise
to an important number of toxic, bioaccumulative, and persistent organic chemicals
in the environment. Effective removal of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from
H. K. Paumo · R. Das · M. Bhaumik

Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
A. Maity (*)
Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
DST/CSIR National Centre for Nanostructured Materials, Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research, Pretoria, South Africa
e-mail: amaity@csir.co.za
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 1

M. Naushad et al. (eds.), Green Methods for Wastewater Treatment, Environmental
Chemistry for a Sustainable World 35, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16427-0_1
2 H. K. Paumo et al.
wastewater represents one key approach that could limit their potential environmen-
tal impacts. Among a variety of techniques reported for the treatment of organic
compound-contaminated wastewater, heterogeneous photocatalytic method using
visible-light-responsive semiconductors has been articulated as an efficient technol-
ogy that holds good potential for the removal of POPs. This chapter gives an
overview of the latest development in the design and synthesis of unique semi-
conductors with visible-light-driven catalytic degradation of POPs. Contextual
information on the basic principles of heterogeneous photocatalysis, paths of
visible-light response, and photocatalytic performance of innovative semiconductor
materials are presented.
Keywords Persistent organic pollutants · Heterogeneous photocatalysis · Visible-

light response
Abbreviations
POPs Persistent organic pollutants

BPA Bisphenol A
DDT Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane
PFOA Perfluorooctanoic acid
HCB Hexachlorobenzene
PFOS Perfluorooctane sulfonate
PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls
TNF-α Tumor necrosis factor α
PCDFs Polychlorinated dibenzofurans
HepG2 Human hepatoblastoma cell line
PCDDs Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins
AOPs Advanced oxidation processes
PBBs Polybrominated biphenyls
CB Conduction band
PFOS Perfluorooctane sulfonate
VB Valence band
PFOSF Perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride
TTIP Titanium tetraisopropoxide
BDE209 Decabromodiphenyl ether
GO Graphene oxide
PAHs Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
UV Ultraviolet
1 Visible-Light-Responsive Nanostructured Materials for Photocatalytic. . . 3
1.1 Background
Water is worldwide regarded as the most vital of natural resources for the sustain-
ability of life, yet freshwater systems are directly threatened by human activities.
Rapid industrialization has led to the generation of a massive amount of synthetic
chemicals, mostly of organic nature and beneficial in crop production and pest and
disease control (Naushad 2014). However, the occurrence of some of these com-
pounds into the natural environment has also been found to cause solemn damage to
wildlife, aquatic life, and human well-being through food web or drinking water
resources (Verhaert et al. 2017; Carlsson et al. 2016; Net et al. 2015). These organic
compounds are fat-soluble and susceptible to bio-magnification and trans-boundary
transportation. Recognized as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), their fate and
activities have engrossed extensive scientific and political interest, principally when
the local discharges have proceeded in dispersed contamination far away from the
origin place of release (Nadal et al. 2015). The inappropriate treatment of effluent
from industries manufacturing or making use of POPs and overflows from fields and
atmospheric depositions are some of the main reasons of POPs ubiquitous nature
(Fig. 1.1). For example, although no homegrown source for POPs contamination
was identified around Bear Island (Bjørnøya), a medium-term air sampling survey of
this Arctic island within the period 1999–2003 revealed a total of 50 toxic organic
compounds (Kallenborn et al. 2007). These consisted of manmade chemicals used as
pesticides and compounds employed in several industrial applications. The presence
of these organic pollutants was utterly ascribed to atmospheric long-range transpor-
tation. Another example is the elaborated data on the bio-magnification of POPs in
subtropical aquatic ecosystems. The Olifants River basin, a tributary of the Limpopo
River in the northeast of South Africa, was recently identified as a life-threatening
Fig. 1.1 Flow chart of POPs into the environment

river in the Southern African region, owing to the trophic magnification of the
detected POPs (Verhaert et al. 2017). The Olifants River basin locality is
South Africa’s powerhouse with petrochemicals and mine companies. There is
enough evidence suggesting that water quality in the Olifants River is impaired by
the expansive coal mining in the area, agricultural return flows, and industrial
wastewater releases downstream (Water Research Commission 2001). However,
this catchment represents one of the main water resources for the residing
populations of the Kruger National Park. It is also known for its substantial contri-
bution to the national and regional economies.
1.2 Classifications of POPs
The worldwide concern about organic contaminant residues in the natural environ-
ment was initially addressed through a joined action of the global community under
the Stockholm Convention in May 2001 (Haffner and Schecter 2014). The key
provision, negotiated under the supports of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and ratified by 90 states and numerous regional economic
integration organizations, was to decrease or even eliminate the production of a set
of 12 POPs. These environmentally hazardous chemicals were grouped in three
families according to their usage:
• Pesticides: dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), hexachlorobenzene (HCB),
aldrin, endrin, chlordane, toxaphene, dieldrin, heptachlor, and mirex
• Industrial substances: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
PCBs were produced to serve as dielectric fluids for capacitors and trans-
formers (Erickson and Kaley 2011). Owing to their propensity to enhance the
stability and elasticity of polymers, PCBs were also employed as additives in
products such as plastics, paints, and coatings.
• Industrial by-products: polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dibenzodioxins
(PCDF/DDs)
Both PCDFs and PCDDs formation are associated to a range of incineration
reactions in the presence of chlorine source and the production of a variety of
chemical products (Altarawneh et al. 2009).
Since 2001, the number of these restricted organic chemicals has been increased
considerably. At the fourth meeting of the POPs Review Committee in 2008 in
Geneva, Switzerland, for example, amendment to the Stockholm Convention
resulted in the addition of a new series of pesticides, including α-, β-, and
ɣ-hexachlorocyclohexane, pentachlorobenzene, and chlordecone. Flame retardants
such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and their ether derivatives as well as stain
repelling surfactants perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctane sulfonyl
fluoride (PFOSF) were equally listed by this subsidiary body (Wang et al. 2009).
Later, the sixth meeting of the Review Committee, held in 2010, saw the inclusion of
chemicals such as flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane and acaricide
Br Br Br Cl Cl
Br
O Cl Cl
Br Br
Br Br Br Cl Cl
Br
Hexachlorobenzene
BDE209
Cln Cln
PCBs
Phenanthrene
NH2
H H H O CH3
N S CH3 H3 C N CH3
H N O S
O N CH3 H H3 C
O H OH
O Aldicarb
Ampicillin
O O OH O OH O O
OH
F
OH NH2
N N HO OH
H H
HN H3 C N
H 3C CH3
Ciprofloxacin Tetracycline
Fig. 1.2 Example of selected POPs
endosulfan. Recently in 2016, apprehension on the benign nature of

decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE) was reviewed by the conference attendees during
the twelveth meeting of the POPs Review Committee. This flame retardant was also
itemized as POPs.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are another important group of
chemicals branded as POPs. These widespread environmental pollutants mainly
occur from the incomplete combustion of vegetation and fossil fuels (Ruge et al.
2015). Accidental spillage during oil shipment has as well been viewed as significant
anthropogenic source of PAHs into the environment (Fu et al. 2011). Generally, POPs
structures are characterized by at least one aromatic or aliphatic ring, the presence of
halogen substituents, and a lack of polar functionalities in some cases (Fig. 1.2).
Strangely, several reports on the evaluation of POPs chemical substitutes, based

on internationally established scientific norms, have revealed that some of the
proposed alternatives are equally very toxic and therefore not sustainable
(Neumeister 2001).
Bisphenol A (BPA), on the other hand, an additive in various consumer and
industrial products, although not yet listed by the POPs Review Committee, has
frequently been labeled in several research articles as a persistent organic contam-
inant. In 2011, BPA was among the most produced chemicals in the world, with an
estimation of over 5.5 million tons (Son et al. 2018). This synthetic organic com-
pound is used as a monomer for the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate
plastics (Kahtani et al. 2019). The former are employed as tooth-filling materials and
coatings for beverage cans, reusable bottles, and water pipes, while the latter are used
in automotive components, digital optical discs, medical devices, and electronic
equipment. BPA occurrence in the environment is attributed to leaching from the
BPA-containing products (Klečka et al. 2009; Schecter et al. 2010; Gaw et al. 2014;
Im and Löffler 2016).
The hefty production of antibiotics around the world, and subsequently their
incidence in the freshwater systems, has raised concerns over the last decade (Liu
et al. 2017a). Antibiotics are essentially employed in human medicine and animal
husbandry. In China, for instance, more than 210 thousand tons of antibiotics are
being manufactured every year (Luo et al. 2010). However, it has been reported that
approximately 75% of the administered antibiotics are discharged in the environment
as parent derivatives in urine, manure, and feces (Wang et al. 2014; Qiang et al. 2006).
1.3 Toxicity of POPs
The health effects of POPs are diverse. Exposure to residue of the insecticide DDT
and its metabolites, for example, has been stated as hazardous to various mammals.
Singh and co-workers reviewed the toxicological characteristics of organo-
chlorinated compounds (Singh et al. 2016). Severe damage has been observed in
the kidney, liver, and testicle of rats exposed to DDT. De Joode et al. (2001), on the
other hand, reported a permanent deflation in the neurobehavioral operative and an
upsurge of the psychiatric and neuropsychological symptoms in human exposed to
DDT for more than 2 years. Similarly, a correlation has been established between
long-term exposure to PCBs and the development of the type II diabetes by
occupationally exposed employees (Silverstone et al. 2012). PCBs are also well-
reported for their impact on human neurotransmitter (Gaum et al. 2014; Gaum et al.
2017), thyroid gland (Benson et al. 2018), and telomerase enzyme (Senthilkumar
et al. 2012). On the other hand, the prenatal transfer of BDE has been found to cause
a significant disruption of the thyroid endocrine system as well as the developmental
abnormalities in zebrafish offspring (Han et al. 2017). So as to identify the mecha-
nism of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) toxicity, Pereira and co-workers
(2017) investigated their detrimental effects in human hepatoblastoma cell line
(HepG2). The authors finding exposed an activation of the autophagic process.
Previously, Costa et al. (2015) also described caspase-dependent apoptosis in mouse

cerebellar granule neurons, following PBDEs exposure. Perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) have been found to inhibit the
secretion of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), following lipopolysaccharide stimu-
lation, in cultured human leukocytes (Corsini et al. 2011). TNF-α is a cell signaling
protein involved in systemic inflammation. Research findings also revealed that
these perfluorinated compounds exhibit immunotoxic potential in vivo, as evidenced
by the alteration of the hepatic immune system in mice exposed to PFOA-/PFOS-
contaminated chow for 10 days (Qazi et al. 2010). PAHs, on the other hand, have
been reported as substances with typical cancer-causing and DNA-damaging poten-
tial (Rengarajan et al. 2015; Singh and Agarwal 2018). For example, Ramesh’s
group (2010) reported an interaction between benzo[a]pyrene and the reproductive
tissues of female Fischer 344 rats exposed to this environmental toxicant.
BPA is well-documented to act as an endocrine disruptor by mimicking naturally
occurring hormones (Canle et al. 2017). The endocrine system is a key regulator of
the body’s metabolism, sexual development, and growth. Even at very low concen-
tration, BPA has been found to competitively cohere to the estrogen receptor or
membrane-bound estrogen receptor in cellular nucleus and promptly influence
cellular function (Son et al. 2018). Environmental pollution triggered by the prev-
alence of antibiotics in the aquatic systems, on the other hand, has raised anxieties
regarding their disposition to select for resistant bacteria and enable the establish-
ment and intensification of pathogenic pools that could endanger public health (Luo
et al. 2011; Pruden et al. 2006). To address the issues linked with all these anthro-
pogenic organic pollutants, the development of effective technologies for the treat-
ment of industrial and domestic wastewater containing POPs is of great interest
within the industrial and scientific communities (Kumar et al. 2017).
1.4 Traditional Water Treatment Processes

for the Removal of POPs
Several processes, including bioremediation, coagulation/flocculation, membrane

filtration, activated carbon adsorption, ozonation, and advanced oxidation, have
been reported for POPs removal from diverse contaminated milieu (Pi et al. 2018;
Ji et al. 2014; Durán and Esposito 2000). However, some of these technologies have
noteworthy limitations.
Bioremediation is often well-described as the most promising approach for POPs
removal, owing to the metabolic potential of microorganisms and their aptitude to
interact with organic contaminants even in extreme conditions (Gaur et al. 2018).
Although highly valued for its cost-effectiveness, this process is also associated with
disadvantages such as reduced bioavailability of pollutants on temporal and spatial
scales and scarcity of bench-mark values for efficiency evaluation (Pariatamby and
Kee 2016). Another effectve approach for the removal of organic pollutants is the
coagulation-flocculation technique. This process involves the use of coagulants that
neutralize by mutual collision with counter ions and agglomerate the charged particles
in colloidal suspension. However, this approach usually leads to the production of
undesired high volume of sludge (Pariatamby and Kee 2016). Likewise, the use of
membrane filtration and activated carbon adsorption also generate membrane retentate
and spent activated carbon which must be disposed properly. Nevertheless, activated
carbon adsorption and ozonation or UV-based oxidation procedures are the most
frequently used methods in effluent treatment plants.
Ozonation makes use of unstable gas ozone (O3) as a strong oxidant for organic
pollutants degradation (Quero-Pastor et al. 2014). Ozone molecules are obtained via
dissociation of oxygen molecules by powerful electric discharge, followed by binding
collision of the obtained oxygen atoms with other available oxygen molecules.
Subsequent to their formation, ozone molecules promptly undergo decomposition
to generate highly reactive radicals such as hydroxyl (OH•), superoxide (O2•), and
peroxyl (OOH•) in aqueous medium (Eqs. 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3) (Von Gunten 2003;
Gardoni et al. 2012). Due to their strong oxidation potential, these species are able to
instantaneously react with organic contaminants (Litter and Quici 2010).
O3 þ OH ! HO
2 þ O2 ð1:1Þ
O3 þ HO
2

! OH þO2 þ O2 ð1:2Þ
O3 þ OH ! OOH þO2 ð1:3Þ
Ozone can also be combined with UV-light irradiation, hydrogen peroxide

(H2O2), and catalysts, with the purpose of improving the interaction process with
organic contaminants. This combination of oxidation procedures is known as
advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). The method is capable of complete decom-
position of organic contaminants into less toxic products or their mineralization into
CO2 and water. However the foremost drawback associated with AOPs has always
been the relatively higher cost of reagents like ozone or UV light. Therefore, the use
of visible-light irradiation as a source of energy is being considered as a model
approach to reduce the costs (Dong et al. 2015; Cates 2017). Lately, the development
of visible-light-sensitive catalysts for organic contaminants remediation in water has
gained tremendous popularity.
Among AOPs, photocatalytic procedure appears as the most promising for the
removal of POPs. This technology makes use of photons from a specific light source
and a catalyst to generate reactive species. In water treatment, the catalyst can either
be soluble (homogeneous photocatalysis) or in solid state (heterogeneous
photocatalysis). However, in homogeneous catalysis and green chemical procedures,
the catalyst removal or its retrieval from the reaction medium for the reusability
purpose is a key concern (Feng et al. 2018; Qin et al. 2017; Gnanasekaran et al.
2016; Romero Sáez et al. 2017; Saravanan et al. 2011, 2018). For the fact that this
shortcoming could be alleviate in heterogeneous photocatalysis, this approach can be
applied for the sustainable treatment of effluent containing recalcitrant organic
compounds like POPs, following the principles of green chemistry.
Heterogeneous photocatalysis takes place in five different stages, namely, (1) dif-
fusion of the organic pollutant from the bulk of the aqueous solution to the surface of
the catalyst (semiconductor), (2) adsorption on to the catalyst surface, (3) semicon-
ductor catalyst surface irradiation-induced chemical reaction, (4) desorption of the
product from the surface, and (5) removal from the boundary section to the bulk of
the solution (Canle et al. 2017). The third stage entails the formation of reactive
species, which may either react directly at the semiconductor surface with adsorbed
molecules of the organic pollutants or lead to the generation of other reactive species
such as oxygen radicals. Although it is always reported that there are numerous
reactive species involved during the degradation of organic pollutants in
photocatalytic systems, the most active species in most cases appears to be OH•.
Hence this radical must be generated in situ unceasingly for the degradation proce-
dure to accomplish the complete destruction of the pollutants. The fundamental
attribute of semiconductors in photocatalysis is easily apprehended using the con-
cept of energy band structure (Yan et al. 2013).
1.5 Fundamental of Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
Within a semiconductor, the electronic energy organization involves two distinct

regimes, that is, the conduction band (CB) and the valence band (VB). The differ-
ence between these two bands is referred as the band gap of the semiconductor.
Irradiation of a semiconductor surface with photons carrying sufficient energy to
overcome its band gap (Eg) initiates the excitation of VB electrons (e) to the CB,
leaving behind an equal number of positively charged holes (h+), as illustrated in
Fig. 1.3.
As a result of light irradiation, the photo-oxidizing ability of semiconductors is
based upon the potential of photogenerated e/h+ pairs to engender the activated
radicals that are responsible for organic pollutants degradation. While the reaction of
an adsorbed hydroxyl ion (OH) and/or a water molecule with h+ generates a
hydroxyl radical (Eqs. 1.5 and 1.6), adsorbed oxygen molecule (O2) produces a
superoxide radical by interacting with an excited-state electron (Eq. 1.7). In general,
the sequence of chain oxidative/reductive reactions that arise at the photon-induced
activated surface of a semiconductor photocatalyst has been proposed as follows
(Dong et al. 2015):
h vEg
Semiconductor photocatalyst ! hþ þ e ð1:4Þ
hþ þ H2 O ! OH þHþ ð1:5Þ
þ
h þ OH ! OH ð1:6Þ
O2
POPs
hν ≥ Eg Conducting band O2 –
Degraded Products
e-
Photoexcitation OH-/H2O
h+
Valence band
POPs
OH
Degraded Products
Fig. 1.3 Basic principle of heterogeneous photocatalysis
e þ O2 ! O2 ð1:7Þ
þ
O2 þ H ! OOH ð1:8Þ
2OOH ! H2 O2 þ O2 ð1:9Þ

H2 O2 þ O2 ! OH þ OH þO2 ð1:10Þ
POP þ ðhþ ; OH; O2 ; OOH Or H2 O2 Þ ! Degraded Products ð1:11Þ
Alongside the importance of energy band gap in photocatalytic process, the

semiconductor morphology, crystallinity, and surface properties also play remark-
able roles. For example, the morphology and surface properties can dictate the
adsorption phase. Furthermore, the recombination ratio of photogenerated e/h+
pairs can be subjected to the semiconductor photocatalyst crystallinity.
The key reaction parameters that are equally reported to influence the heteroge-
neous photocatalysis of POPs include the temperature, light intensity, semiconductor
load, O2 availability, organic pollutants concentration, and solution pH.
An increase in temperature significantly reduces the solubility of molecular
oxygen in the bulk solution, thereby promoting the recombination of electron-hole
and dropping the photocatalyst performance (Spasiano et al. 2015). The solution pH,
on the other hand, directly impacts the surface charge of the photocatalyst and the
position of CB and VB (Ahmad et al. 2016). A decrease in pH renders the CB
positively charged holes more operative, owing to the lower amount of hydroxyl
ions in the reaction milieu. Under basic or neutral conditions, an increased number of
these hydroxyl ions are expected to generate more OH• radicals as foremost species
for POPs degradation. Furthermore, the choice of an ideal light intensity is always
required to accomplish a high performance in photocatalytic response (Tseng et al.
2010). Semiconductor implicates in photocatalysis do not absorb all the irradiated
photons, as a result of light scattering and refraction phenomena. Hence, an upsurge
in light intensity usually increases the rate of reaction up until the mass transfer
limitation is attained. Moreover, owing to the fact that heterogeneous photocatalysis
is a surface interaction, an increase of the specific surface area of the semiconductor
can serve as valuable tool that may lead to improved catalytic process.
With regard to the chemical kinetics that bring about the experimental estimation
and analysis of the amount of residual contaminant as a function of time, it is always
assumed that POPs adsorption proceeds at quasi-equilibrium, modeled by the
Langmuir isotherm. Hence, the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model is usually exploited
to describe the reaction progression. The photocatalytic rate of degradation “r” is
expressed by the following equation (Spasiano et al. 2015):
K ½POPs
r ¼ K r θx ¼ K r ð1:12Þ
1 þ K ½POPs
where Kr, [POPs], and K denote the reaction rate constant, the concentration of
POPs, and the Langmuir adsorption constant, respectively. However, if the initial
[POPs] is low, as it is in most degradation studies, the equation can be simplified to
an apparent first-order as represented below (Spasiano et al. 2015):
d½POPs
r ¼ K app ½POPs ¼ ð1:13Þ
dt
By bringing together concentration terms, the following equation is obtained:
d ½POPs
¼ K app dt ð1:14Þ
½POPs
Integration of Eq. 1.11 results in:

½POPso
ln ¼ K app t ð1:15Þ
½POPst
The value of Kapp, the apparent pseudo-first-order rate constant, can therefore be
estimated from the slope of a plot of ln([POPs]o/[POPs]t against time t.
1.6 Overview of Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalysts
In visible-light-responsive photocatalysis, the semiconductor should be able to

absorb more profuse visible light (400 nm < λ < 800 nm), and its band gap should
be sufficiently narrow (Eg < 3.0 eV) to allow excitation of electrons by the irradiated
photons. Furthermore, the high crystallinity of the designed visible-light-driven
photocatalyst can encourage mobility of the charge carriers to the surface and
suppress the recombination ratio for an improved activity (Joo et al. 2012). However,
lower crystallinity in some cases has also been reported as a plausible motive for the
enhanced photocatalytic, owing to the manifestation of surface defects that increases
light absorption (Cen et al. 2014). The surface character of visible-light-responsive
photocatalysts is known to significantly influence the oxidative/reductive reactions
that are set to take place during the degradation process.
1.6.1 TiO2-Based Photocatalysts for Visible-Light-Assisted

Degradation of POPs
Among numerous oxides used for the photocatalytic degradation of POPs, titanium
dioxide (TiO2) is the most extensively investigated semiconductor, owing to its
unique properties (Tian et al. 2014; Zheng et al. 2018). These include nontoxicity,
strong oxidizing potency, and relatively high physicochemical stability. Moreover,
defect chemistry of TiO2 demonstrates its nonstoichiometric nature (Bak et al. 2006).
The oxygen vacancies are the principal defects at near-atmospheric oxygen pressure,
and their presence results in excess electrons as charge carriers and the description of
an n-type semiconductor (Morgan and Watson 2010). Hitherto, the n-type TiO2
direct application in photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants has been
consistently labeled as substandard for a number of reasons. TiO2 with a wide band
gap of 3.2 eV can only be activated under more expensive and hazardous UV-light
irradiation which contributes very less (5%) to the natural solar spectrum (Zhang
et al. 2015; Pelaez et al. 2012; Meng et al. 2012). Furthermore, fast recombination
proportion of photoexcited e and h+ has also been reported to significantly reduce
its photocatalytic efficiency. To overcome these drawbacks, semiconductor TiO2
coupling and/or doping have been proposed. Representative TiO2-containing
photocatalysts with distinguished activity toward POPs under visible-light irradia-
tion are presented below.
Coupling
Performing suitable band engineering by coupling TiO2 nanostructures with mate-

rials of good visible-light-harvesting potential are of great benefit for the develop-
ment of visible-light-responsive photocatalysts. For example, Nguyen and Doong
described the binary p-n semiconducting ZnFe2O4/TiO2 nanocomposite (ZnFe2O4
weight ratio 1%), obtained by the solvothermal process, as excellent photocatalyst
for BPA degradation in aqueous environment under visible-light illumination at
465 nm (Nguyen and Doong 2017). ZnFe2O4 is a p-type semiconductor with
magnetic properties and a comparatively narrow band gap (1.9 eV). In p-type
semiconductor, positively charged holes are mainstream charge carriers. The use
of 1.0 g/L ZnFe2O4/TiO2 heterojunction afforded complete destruction of toxic BPA
HO OH
Degraded products
+CO2
O2•- and OOH• BPA H3C CH3
BPA
OH•
e -/H + BPA
O2
Degraded products
e-
+CO2
e- -1.54 eV
ZnFe2O4
Potential Vs NHE
1.9 eV
-1
-0.29 eV e-
0
3.2 eV
h+ 0.38 eV 1
TiO2
BPA
2
h+ Degraded products
2.91 eV O2/O2•- (-0.33 eV)
+CO2
OH•/OH- (2.38 eV)
Normal hydrogen
electrode(NHE)
Fig. 1.4 Schematic diagram for the photodegradation of BPA using p-n heterojunction ZnFe2O4/
TiO2 under visible-light irradiation
(10 mg/L at pH 7) in 20 mL solution after 20 min. The radical trapping investigation

revealed that photogenerated h+ and both OH•/O2• radicals were the reactive
species (Fig. 1.4). In addition, the reusability examination indicated that ZnFe2O4/
TiO2 material could be reapplied for not less than ten recurrent cycles of reaction.
Fabrication of p-n junction is well-reported as an efficient strategy to achieve
improved photocatalytic activity, owing to an induced inner electric field which
extends the e- and h+ lifetime (Chen et al. 2011; Wei et al. 2011). The build-in
electric field allows the movement of e- and h+ in opposite directions in the space-
charge region to accomplish their separation.
Shao et al. (2017) took advantage of the photosensitivity of silver halides and
reported the synthesis of spherical-like AgI-deposited TiO2 with visible-light
(λ > 420 nm) photodegradation activity toward BDE209. The ideal TiO2/AgI
catalyst (AgI mass ratio 30%) exhibited a pseudo-first-order kinetic constant of
about 0.29 h1. The debromination of BDE209 occurred as a result of the movement
of photoexcited electrons from AgI to BDE209 via TiO2 conduction band. Likewise,
TiO2/Ag2O sheet loaded on natural polymer chitosan stabilized onto polypropylene
matrix was described as photocatalytic film with impressive visible-light absorption
at 545 nm and catalytic activity against antibiotics under irradiation with a 150 W
tungsten/halogen lamp (Zhao et al. 2017). The complete decomposition of ampicillin
(20 mg/L) in 40 mL solution took place within 180 min. The prepared multilayer
photocatalyst with 2.4 eV energy band gap was found to owe its activity to the
formation of p-n-type Ag2O-TiO2 heterojunctions and transfer of electrons from
TiO2 to Ag2O when their Fermi levels matches. The Fermi level represents the
highest energy level occupied by valence band electrons.
Coupling TiO2 with carbonaceous materials, exhibiting wide visible-light absorp-
tion, has also been reported as a tool for the improvement of quantum efficiency in
TiO2 photocatalytic systems (Liang et al. 2014; Li et al. 2015a). Graphene-
containing semiconductors have been extensively investigated in the development
of photocatalysts with visible-light response ability toward recalcitrant organic
contaminants (Xie et al. 2015). When combine to semiconductor such as TiO2,
graphene can act as a sink that capture and shuttle electrons, thereby diminishing the
charge recombination phenomenon (Sher Shah et al. 2012). Furthermore, grapheme
has also been reported to decrease the energy band gap of grapheme-fused semi-
conductors through atomic d-π orbital hybridization and formation of additional
band states (Zhang et al. 2008; Zhang et al. 2010; Li et al. 2013). For example, the
solvothermal procedure involving the use of P123 nonionic surfactant, TiCl4/tita-
nium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) solution, and graphene oxide (GO) yielded the
nanocrystalline graphene/TiO2 composite with high catalytic activity
(k ¼ 0.25 min1) against aldicarb under visible-light irradiation (λ > 400 nm) (Li et al.
2013). N-methyl carbamate aldicarb is a chemical substitute to the restricted pesti-
cides aldrin and heptachlor (Neumeister 2001). Fu et al. (2018) also described the
graphite oxide-TiO2-Sr(OH)2/SrCO3 nanocomposite as a novel catalyst with strong
photodegradation activity toward PAH phenanthrene, under simulated sunlight
irradiation (light intensity 100 mW/cm2). The reported activity of this
multicomponent material was attributed to a synergetic action of the three constit-
uents within the composite during photocatalytic process. A redshift of the optical
absorption as well as a divergent drive of the photogenerated e and h+ was induced
via hybridization of Sr(OH)2/SrCO3 and TiO2. Graphite oxide repressed the charge
recombination as outlined in the literature precedent (Li et al. 2013).
Tungsten trioxide (WO3), unveiling a relatively smaller band gap of 2.8 eV, has
also been coupled with TiO2 for POPs photodegradation in water medium. For
example, TiO2/WO3/GO nanoparticles, prepared via the hydrothermal procedure
using Degussa P25, graphene oxide, and ammonium metatungstate, were reported as
composited material with excellent BPA photodegradation in aqueous solution at pH
7 under visible-light illumination (λ > 400 nm) (Hao et al. 2017). As outlined by the
authors, WO3 effected an improved visible-light absorption, followed by the gener-
ation of e/h+. The GO surface acted as photogenerated electrons acceptor and
restrained the pair charge carriers recombination.
Doping
Doping plays an essential role in amending the optical properties of semiconductor

photocatalysts and allows for the use of sunlight energy. For example, cobalt-loaded
titanate nanotubes, fabricated through the hydrothermal treatment of cobalt
(II) chloride hexahydrate (CoCl26H2O) and TiO2 nanoparticles followed by calci-
nation of the resultant precipitate, displayed ten times more catalytic activity than
O2
e - e-
e - e- e -
e-
Cu O2•- and OOH•
Titanate
3.45 eV
3.18 eV
N - TiO2
ΦCu = 4.7 eV
BPA Degraded products
+CO2
h + h+ h + h+ h + H2O
OH• BPA
Degraded products +CO2
Fig. 1.5 Schematic diagram for the photodegradation of BPA using Cu-deposited N-TiO2/titanate
under visible-light irradiation
P25 TiO2 for the degradation of phenanthrene in water under simulated sunlight
irradiation (light intensity 85 0.5 mW/cm2) at 25 C (Zhao et al. 2016). The
percentage of phenanthrene (200 μg/L) removal by this Co-modified titanate
nanomaterial (Co mass ratio 2.26%) was estimated around 98.6% after 12 h of
contact time using 1 g/L dose. Interestingly, cobalt(II) oxide (CoO), generated as a
result of the existence of cobalt(II) ions in titanate nanotubes during the calcination
procedure, was proven to perform as photoexcited electrons transfer mediator,
thereby hindering the e/h+ recombination.
Cu-N-codoped TiO2/titanate nanotubes, fabricated via the microwave-assisted
hydrothermal treatment of ST-01 TiO2 nanoparticles and calcination in the presence
of copper(II) ions under N2/NH3 atmosphere, were evaluated as photocatalyst for the
removal of BPA in water medium (Doong and Liao 2017a). Relative to P25, nano-
sized Cu-N-TiO2/titanate exhibited remarkable activity under visible-light illumina-
tion (λ ¼ 420 20 nm) with complete degradation of BPA after 120 min. The high
efficiency of Cu0-deposited, N-TiO2/titanate nanotubes (Cu mass ratio 6%) was
ascribed to their ability to extend the production of radical OH• for more than
5 min. As shown in Fig. 1.5, the deposited Cu0 enhanced trapping of electrons that
reacted with adsorbed oxygen to produce superoxide and subsequently peroxyl
radicals. Metallic copper ability to remove high-energy electron from TiO2 results
from its higher work function value 4.7 eV (Doong and Liao 2017b). TiO2 work
function was estimated to be 4.2 eV. The nitrogen doping, on the other hand, resulted
in reduced energy band gap of TiO2 (3.18 eV).
It has been established that doping TiO2 with nonmetallic elements, including N,
C, and F, could serve as an efficient strategy to manipulate its band structure and
enhance its photo-response ability into the visible region (Livraghi et al. 2006; Li
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CHAPTER IX.
SOMETHING TO READ.
“And thereby hangs a tale.”
—Othello.
With the first appearance of punkhas, and the first “notice about
ice” most of the people at Mangobad fled away to Simla, Mussoorie,
or Naini-Tal—chiefly to Naini-Tal. Mr. Redmond’s face was an
amusing study (in black) when Belle suggested in her most kittenish
and effusive manner, that “she should share a house with him, as
George could only get two months’ leave, and that it would be great
fun to live together!” but Mr. Redmond grimly declined this unalluring
proposition in a few brief words, and subsequently (purposely) took a
mansion that set the whole length of the lake, and a distance of two
miles, between his abode and Mrs. Holroyd’s cheap, damp, out-of-
the-way little bungalow—for Belle was now nothing if not
economical, and thrifty, to the verge of parsimony, save in the matter
of her personal adornment. Naini-Tal, named after the goddess Naini
(or Nynee), is a lake that lies six thousand feet above the plains, in
the lap of the Himalayas; the surrounding hills rise from the edge of
the water and are covered with houses half hidden among trees.
These houses are reached by narrow paths, in some instances goat
tracks, and the only means of locomotion is either on a pony’s back,
or in a jhampan or dandy, carried on the shoulders of four men. A
jhampan—the gondola of the hills—is something between a chair
and a coffin, and, to an uneducated eye, the first glimpse of Naini-
Tal, with its crowds of people being borne along, suggests the
victims of some frightful colliery or railway accident. But a nearer
inspection shows smartly dressed ladies, reclining in gaily painted
dandies, and borne by jhampannies in gorgeous liveries. Each
memsahib dresses her bearers brilliantly, and racks her brains to
devise some novelty that will distinguish her from the rest of her
neighbours! You can descry her while she is yet afar off. You know
where she is calling, and where she is shopping, when you see her
blazing team squatting outside—with the surreptitious huka—
awaiting her reappearance. Now you meet a green and yellow set,
next a scarlet and blue, after that, an orange and crimson, jostling
others who are all orange. What burlesques of family liveries! What
travesties of monograms emblazoned on the bearers’ broad chests!
Naini-Tal is a pretty place, especially by moonlight, or when the
surrounding hills are reflected in the lake. It is in the shape of a cup,
or a great extinct crater, and you have to climb a thousand feet to get
a view of the line of everlasting snows, commanded, as it were, by
Nunga-Devi, the “Storm Goddess,” standing out sternly against the
steel-blue sky. The only flat space is the Mall round the lake, and the
polo ground. There are lovely walks, if you do not object to stiff
climbing, and once arrived you find yourself, as it were, lost in the
woods, among moss and rocks and overhanging trees with thick
fringes of ferns covering their outspread branches. Here you get a
peep of the lake—there of the distant blue plains. True, these walks
have some drawbacks. They are excessively slippery in damp
weather, and panthers lie in wait for dogs (and are particularly partial
to fox terriers), moreover, greedy leeches accompany the
unsuspecting pedestrian to his, or her, own house. Naini-Tal is gay!
What popular hill station is not? Balls, races—yes, races—regattas,
and picnics; theatricals, tableaux, and concerts all succeed one
another in rapid succession, and when early in May new arrivals
come swarming up from the plains, the hotels are crammed, and
every day half-a-dozen new sets of jhampannies, carrying a new
memsahib, appear on the Mall, and dozens of gallant sahibs come
cantering up from the Brewery, with a syce clinging to their ponies’
tails, who would believe in that terrible story about Friday, the 18th
September, 1880, when, after two days’ torrents of rain, during which
everyone was a prisoner to the house, and cut off from their
neighbours, there was a hollow rumble—then arose a red, dusty
cloud, like fire, and when that cloud had dispersed, and the mist had
lifted, the Assembly Rooms, the Victoria Hotel, and several houses
had been effaced—swept away and engulfed in a moment, and with
them a hundred souls. There are occasional little landslips during the
monsoon. Rocks come thundering down, tons of earth crumble off,
the cart road “goes” annually, but on the whole Naini-Tal is
considered as safe as its neighbours. High up on a hill among rocks
and trees, in a somewhat inaccessible spot, you come across a
board on which is painted, “Captain Holroyd, Royal Musketeers,” and
near it a box for visitors’ cards (which is almost always empty). If you
follow the path, you arrive at a dreary-looking, one-storeyed house,
with no view, and the reputation of being very damp, and of having a
family of needy panthers among the surrounding rocks. If you
penetrated to the drawing-room, the chances are ten to one that you
would find Belle cowering over the fire with a shawl on her shoulders
and “Mossoo” in her lap, and two to one in a bad temper—both
mistress and dog alike victims to ennui. “She was no one up here,”
she grumbled to Betty every time she saw her. “She was a
Collector’s niece, and asked out to big dinners every night, and
taken to picnics up Diopatha and Iopatha, or down to Douglas Dale,
but of course that was partly because Mr. Redmond entertained! She
did not (and so much the better for Naini-Tal). They had got up
theatricals—people that knew nothing about them, that could not act
one little bit, and they had never even consulted her, or asked her to
take a part. Of course that was all jealousy, and pitifully transparent!
They had heard of her acting at Lucknow, and Mangobad, and seen
the account of it in the papers, and were afraid of her cutting them all
out. Her reputation had come up before her (it had indeed), and
George said it was too soon after her mother’s death to go to balls—
George was so peculiar,” and so on, in the same strain for about an
hour. Belle arrayed her jhampannies in the smartest suits in the
station, and excited quite a sensation as she was carried
triumphantly along the Mall. But alas! She had only the clothes now,
and no men to wear them; and without jhampannies a lady is
comparatively a prisoner. As a class, these sturdy, jovial, brown hill
men are most independent; give them wood tickets, their mornings
to themselves, and no late hours, and no heavy passengers—give
them smart suits and caps, and warm blankets, and they will take
you out once or—peradventure at a pinch—twice a day, without
grumbling. But when a lady, be she ever so light, is always calling for
them and harrying them, when she takes them long and steep paths
to pay needless visits, and beats them with her parasol, why they
figuratively snap their fingers at her and go!—and what is worse,
they boycott her in the bazaars. Belle was in a bad plight; she could
only join the giddy throng below at the Assembly Rooms, or round
the lake, and polo ground, when she could obtain coolies at double
fare!
On these days, smartly dressed in what she called second
mourning, she descended and paraded the Mall with Betty, went out
in a wherry with George, had tea and ices at Morrison’s shop and
enjoyed herself considerably, forgetting for the time her woes, her
hateful servants, and her dismal, murky house.
At the opposite end of the lake, in a good situation, you come
upon a fine two-storeyed abode, with Mr. Redmond’s name on the
gate board and Miss Redmond’s box full of cards. He was popular,
despite his eccentricities; everyone knew that if his bark was loud,
his bite was nil; and Betty was much admired as she rode along the
Mall and walked on the “Berm” between rows of discriminating
British subalterns, sitting on the rails arrayed in boating flannels and
gorgeous “blazers.” She was in constant request, as Belle had
complained, but gave up many a pleasant engagement (to boat, to
ride, to play tennis) to climb that weary hill, and to sit with that
querulous, discontented little creature; who imperatively demanded
her visits, and yet when she came, never ceased to scold her
sharply for her dress, her friends, and her airs!
The monsoon broke with a violence peculiar to the Himalayas, the

rains descended, and the floods came foaming down the mountains,
the same mountains and the lake being swallowed up in mist, and all
but the most stout-hearted (and booted) were prisoners to the house.
Belle was alone. She was laid up with fever, and she wrote such a
piteous scrawl, that Betty, in spite of her uncle’s angry expostulation,
consented to go to her, and cheer her up and stay a week! She
evolved some order in that cheerless home, tidied up the drawing-
room, put away Belle’s old “chits” and papers, and scraps, and
“Mossoo’s” bones, coaxed some servants into the empty godowns,
for there was not one on the premises, but a deaf old ayah and a
waterman. Belle enjoyed the transformation and the company of a
bright companion, and was better, and out, and gay. At the end of
the week, George returned from a signalling class at Ranikhet, rode
in quite unexpectedly, and his arrival was an excuse for Betty’s
immediate departure, but Belle in vehement language that almost
bordered on violent words, insisted that her cousin must remain one
day longer, in order to be present at a little dinner party that included
Captain La Touche and a neighbouring married couple. Her popular
cousin was her social trump card; moreover, she looked to her to
make the sweets, and decorate the table.
But when the hour came, although dressed, Belle felt too ill to
appear. She had got her feet wet. She had a cold, and sore throat,
and she was forced to stay in her own room by the fire, and dine in
company with “Mossoo.”
She felt excessively irritable and ill-used, as the sounds of merry
laughing and talking came from the adjoining dining-room; they were
having a very good time, and she—how dull she felt! She had no
amusement, not even a book; she rose and searched about for
something to read. She went, as a last resource, into George’s
dressing-room, but there she could find no food for her mind, save
sundry Manuals of Infantry Drill and of Field Exercises, and half a
dozen red-bound “Royal Warrants.” She was turning disconsolately
away, when her eyes fell upon his keys. Of these he was always so
careful—so suspiciously careful—and never left them about. Happy
thought! She could amuse herself unusually well, in having a good
rummage through his dispatch box. Perhaps she would discover
some of his secrets. A husband had no business to have secrets
from his wife; perhaps she would discover something about what she
mentally called “the other girl.” With this honourable intention she
carried the box into her own room, placed it on a table near the fire,
and sat herself deliberately down before it. The key was easily
found, and as easily turned in the lock; the lid was thrown open, and
the upper tray scrutinised. Nothing but a cheque book, a banker’s
book, some papers and envelopes, and a Manual on Musketry. In
the lower compartment were some of his mother’s letters, a packet
of paid bills, some recipes for dogs and horses, and at the bottom of
all a sealed parcel. She felt it carefully. Yes—it contained a cabinet
photograph—the photograph; she must, and would, see what the
creature was like.
In a second the cover was torn off. But—but, who was this?
holding it to the lamp with a shaking hand.
Betty!
At first, she could not realise the full extent of her discovery, she
simply stared, and panted, and trembled. It meant nothing! Then her
eye caught sight of the other contents of the packet—a little well-
remembered brooch, a withered flower, and a letter in her mother’s
handwriting.
As she read this, her breast heaved convulsively, the veins in her
forehead stood out like cords, her fingers twitched, so that the paper
between them rattled and was torn.
When she had come to the very end of it, she sat with her eyes
fixed, her hands to her head, as if she had received a galvanic
shock. “To think that all along it was Betty, the hypocrite, the viper,
the wretch, that robbed me of my husband’s love. Oh, how I hate
her! How I loathe her! How I wish she was dead! I see it all—all now.
She stole him from me that time she went to the Moores, and oh,
how false she has been ever since. How well they have kept their
secret. I shall never believe in any one again, not in a saint from
heaven. And I, poor fool, asking if she ever had a love affair! Oh, I
could tear her to pieces. I could, I could,” and she gnashed her teeth,
and clenched her hands, and “Mossoo” fled into hiding under a chest
of drawers.
Not a thought of remorse for two lives sacrificed for her, not a
thought of any one but herself, and her wrongs.
Now, she saw why George avoided Betty, at least, in public; now
by the light of her discovery she saw everything; many puzzling
circumstances were as plain as A, B, C, and here, at this present
moment, that abominable girl was under her roof, sitting in her place,
and entertaining her guests! Oh! Oh! Oh! it was past all endurance,
and she began to pace the room almost at a run; her fury rising like a
gale at sundown. She must wait (if she could) till those people had
gone; it was after eleven; they must leave soon, and then——
It was a fearful night. Thunder rolled and crashed among the
mountains, the rain came down on the zinc roof with a deafening
roar, the paths were foaming water-courses, the water-courses
boiling rivers; and now and then a furious blast shook the house to
its foundation.
At last the laughing and talking ceased, the merry company had
departed. She saw their lanterns dimly through the mist, and
instantly rushed into the drawing-room. Betty was there, busily
putting away cards and counters, and George, who had been
speeding his guests, stood in the doorway.
In her furious precipitation, Belle knocked over a chair, and they
both turned and saw her—saw her livid, distorted face, compressed
lips and glittering eyes—that looked as if they were illuminated by
some inward flame—and knew but too well what these signs
portended.
“So,” she screamed, her piercing voice distinct above the
thundering rain. “So I have found you both out at last! Oh! you false
wretch,” shaking her own photograph at Betty, “how I would like to
strangle you! You, that we all thought so quiet, so modest, and that
was engaged all the time on the sly. You artful, bad girl, you robbed
me—me—of his affections,” pointing to George. “He liked me first,
he liked me best. He dares not deny it! I must say this for him, that
whatever he is, he is no liar.”
All the time she was speaking—screaming, it might be called—she
was tearing the photograph into atoms, with feverish, frenzied
fingers, and with the word liar, she dashed them into Betty’s face.
“Belle,” said her husband sternly, “what are you about? Have you
taken leave of your senses? What do you mean by treating your
cousin in this way?”
“There,” she shrieked, “there, you take her part. You try and blind
me still! Have I gone out of my senses? No, but I am going out of
them! I have opened your box, I have read my mother’s letter. I know
all. How dared you marry me?”
After this question, there was a pause for ten seconds, the rain
and wind alone broke the silence, whilst the raging woman, from
whom every restraint had fallen away, awaited his answer.
“I married you,” speaking with painful slowness, “because I
thought it was the only thing to be done under the circumstances. I
did my best to make you happy, I hoped——”
“Hoped! Thought!” she interrupted, shaking from head to foot.
“Who cares what you hoped or thought?” And then she broke into a
torrent of passion, in which scathing, scorching words seemed to
pour from her lips one over the other, like a stream of lava. This, to
the couple who had been mercilessly sacrificed for her advantage.
“Betty,” said George abruptly, “this is no scene for you; go to your
own room.”
“To her room! go out of the house, go now!” cried Belle, stamping
her foot; “now, this second, do you hear me?”
“To-morrow,” interrupted her husband, “not to-night, you could not
turn a dog out in such weather.”
“No, but I would turn out a snake, a viper, a cobra.”
“You may be certain that Betty is not anxious to trespass on your
hospitality, but she will stay as a favour, she shall not go out on such
a night, I will not allow it,” he returned firmly.
“Very well then, I’ll go! The Burns will take me in. I refuse to remain
under the same roof with that girl for another five minutes.”
“Do not be afraid, Belle, I will go,” said Betty, who had been
hitherto too stunned to move or speak. “I will go this moment. You
are a cruel woman, you have wronged both George and me, and you
will be sorry for all you have said to-morrow.”
Belle’s voice drowned hers in furious protestations to the contrary,
and she hastened away, threw on a waterproof, and twisted a scarf
round her head, whilst George called for a syce and a lantern.
“Belle,” he said, as he re-entered, putting on his top-coat, and his
face looked white and set. “This is about the last straw! God knows
that I have done my best, or tried to do my best for you. After this we
will live apart—apart for ever.”
Before she had time to reply, he was gone, he had quitted the
room, and she saw him and Betty go forth into the sheets of rain,
and the black surrounding darkness, in the wake of a syce with an
oilskin cape over his head, and a lantern in his hand. She watched
the trio descend the hill, till they and their flickering light were lost to
sight.
Then she went and sat down beside the dying fire—feeling
somewhat exhausted—and assured herself that she had done well,
had acted as any other wife of spirit would have done, but her fury
was abating and her confidence with it; cold remorse began to
whisper in her ear, as she listened to the booming of the thunder and
the roaring of the rain; they had nearly three miles to go by the long
road, and Betty was in her evening dress and shoes! Of course
George did not care for Betty now; even her distorted mind could not
summon the ghost of a charge against him. She glanced over past
months, with the piercing eye of a jealous wife. No, there was not a
word or a glance, by which she could arraign him.
He had got over it ages ago. Betty would marry some wealthy
man, and George was her husband. She must forgive them! At the
end of half-an-hour’s solitary meditation, during which she had
reckoned up her probable allowance and probable prospects at
home, she actually had absolved them both. Betty had no business
to have had an understanding with George when she was a mere
child—and of course did not know her own mind; but Betty had
always been good to her, forbearing, generous, and useful. Only that
very morning she had cooked her a dainty little dish to tempt her
appetite, and she had gone down in all the rain to get her a remedy
for her cold, and a novel from the library.
And George? yes, he was good to her too; he never refused her
money, he never flirted with other women, he always remembered
her birthday, he wrote regularly when she was from home, and
punctually met her at the station on her return. If he was cold and
reserved, and hated French poodles, it was his nature, and he could
not help himself. Looking round among the Lords and Masters of her
numerous acquaintances, she could not name a woman who had a
better husband than her own.
And supposing he had really meant what he said? There was a
strange expression in his eyes,—a look that she had never seen
there before, not even after she threw the tennis-bat at Mrs.
Monkton! And once, in a passion, another lady told her that she
wondered Mr. Holroyd did not get a divorce for incompatibility of
temper! But no, no; nothing but death should ever part them. Her
Australian trip had shown her one thing most distinctly—that alone,
and unprotected by her popular, gentlemanly husband, she was a
very helpless and insignificant little person. What was she to do?
Perhaps he would never come back! The bare idea filled her with
dismay. She was now all penitence (as usual). She would follow
them instantly to Mr. Redmond’s door. She would make it up; she
would abase herself; she would go by the short cut across the hill,
and be there almost as soon as they were! No sooner thought than
done. She ran into her room, and put on a cloak, and a pair of strong
shoes, and going into the back verandah, called imperatively for a
lamp and a guide.
But what hill servant, sleeping comfortably in his “comlee,” would
respond to the screams of a bad memsahib—demanding a light and
attendant, at one o’clock, and on such a night? As she had sowed,
she reaped. No answer came, not a sound, not a sign, from the
cluster of godowns at the back; for once she refrained from rousing
them in person. She had no time to lose. She was obliged to hunt up
a lantern, and to light and carry it herself; and with “Mossoo” for her
sole escort, she set forth in the streaming downpour, and started
rapidly up the hill.
CHAPTER X.
IN WHICH BELLE’S WISH IS FULFILLED.
“Covering with moss the dead’s unclosèd eye

The little red-breast teacheth charity.”
Betty almost ran down the footpath, her feet shod with indignation,
and refused her companion’s proffered arm with a sharp gesture,
that was nearer akin to passion than politeness. At first she hurried
along bravely enough, but afterwards more slowly and painfully.
What are bronze shoes, and silk stockings, among rocks and broken
branches, and overflowing water-courses? One of her feet was badly
cut, her hair had been blown adrift by the stormy rain that beat her
and buffeted her so mercilessly. At last she was compelled to cling to
the arm she had previously scorned; for as she stumbled forward in
the wake of the blinking lantern and shivering syce, furious gusts of
wind came sweeping down between Cheena and Diopatha, and
threatened to carry her off her balance, and to extinguish the light.
The pair made no attempt to speak, for their voices would have been
lost amid the crash of the thunder, and the hollow roar of the
torrents, as they tumbled tumultuously down the ravines, and poured
into the lake with the noise of an explosion. Amid the unchanging
fury of the storm, there were intervals of blinding light, alternating
with spells of utter darkness. Once, in a comparatively sheltered
spot, Betty halted to twist up her hair. As she did so, a dazzling white
flash lit up the dark surrounding hills—the grey sheets of rain
pattering into the lake—the streaming path—themselves.
There was a momentary lull, as if the raving, screaming wind was
taking breath, and Betty said tremulously, but with perfect
distinctness:
“George, to-night it must be good-bye between us; you will
understand that it cannot be otherwise.”
“Yes,” he returned hoarsely, “I could never ask you to run the risk
of such another scene. It must be as you say—God help us!”
A second flash, bright as day, illumined his face; it was ashen; and
in the haggard eyes so near to hers there was a look of wistfulness
and despair—such an agonised look, as the eyes of the dying wear
when they take leave of those they love best, and pass away, alone,
into that undiscovered country.
In a moment all was black again, and once more the pair resumed
that struggle onwards, arm in arm, staggering against the wind, and
wrapped in the darkness and the silence of their own thoughts. After
half an hour’s scrambling and groping, and climbing of slippery paths
that ran with water, bruised, drenched, beaten and breathless, they
arrived at their destination, and were vociferously announced by the
barking of half a dozen curs of high and low degree.
Mr. Redmond always retired late, and was still sitting up; reading—
no—not a treatise on jurisprudence, but a French novel; he came in
his dressing-gown and spectacles, and opened the door in person,
and beheld his niece in a soaking evening dress, bareheaded, and
almost barefoot; and Holroyd looking ghastly, with the rain pouring
off his cap and moustache.
“What—what does this mean?” he demanded in a voice in which
anger and amazement struggled for mastery. “Do you wish to murder
the girl—sir—that you bring her out in such a plight on such a night?”
“I am more sorry than I can say, but I could not help it—I——”
“Come in, come in, man alive! and don’t stand dripping there,
come in and explain yourself!”
“Uncle Bernard,” said Betty, taking off her cloak and throwing back
her wringing hair. “He cannot explain—Belle and I have had a
quarrel.”
“A quarrel about what?” turning the lamp full on her colourless
face. Dead silence.
“There has been more than a quarrel! There is something in the
background. Holroyd, you don’t leave my house till you explain the
whole business.”
“Oh, uncle, do not keep him,” expostulated Betty. “Don’t you see
how wet he is?”
“Then you shall tell me, run away at once, and put on dry clothes. I
shall not go to bed till I have come to the bottom of this affair! What
will every one say when they hear that your cousin turned you out of
doors in the middle of such a night? Holroyd, in common Christian
charity I must give you something to drink. I don’t want to have your
death on my head, but mind you, I have not done with you. Have
some old brandy, neat?”
“No, thank you, I must go,” and he glanced at Betty.
“Yes,” she said, approaching him quickly as she spoke. “You must
forgive Belle; she will be very sorry; forgive her as a favour to me.
Remember,” she added, almost in a whisper, “what you promised me
last Christmas. Good-bye.” Her lips trembled, whilst her eyes
dismissed him.
“Good-bye,” he echoed, in a husky voice, wringing her hand as he
spoke. In another second he was gone—gone without a word or
glance towards Mr. Redmond, and was hurrying down the hill at
breakneck speed.
“Must I tell you, Uncle Bernard?” said Betty, when, after a short
interval, she returned to the sitting-room, in a long, white, woollen
gown, and with her hair hanging over her shoulders.
“Yes, you must tell me everything, and you must drink this cherry
brandy.”
“I would so much rather not do one or the other.”
“And you will have to do both.”
“Then, Uncle Bernard, remember you make me tell what I have
never told to a soul,” and her eyes flashed at him through tears of
passionate pain. “But you stand in the place of my father.”
“I do, and you stand to me in the place of a daughter. Begin what
you have to say—at once.”
“I—I—how can I begin?” she said, shading her face with her
hands. “I knew George Holroyd very well three years ago. I was a
good deal at Bridgetstown with his mother and sister, and—and—”
she hesitated.
“And he made love to you,” continued her uncle bluntly.
“He could not marry, for he had no money; he was supporting his
mother and sister, and he had but little besides his pay.”
“I am surprised he did not ask you to share that!” sneered her
listener.
“No, no, he would not bind me to any promise, but he said that if
his prospects improved—he would write.”
“And he never did. Oh, oh—I see it all!”
“Yes, he wrote and enclosed the letter to Mrs. Redmond, but Mrs.
Redmond wanted him to marry her own daughter. She scratched out
my name—and gave the letter to Belle.”
“What!” shouted Mr. Redmond, rising to his feet, “what
madwoman’s nonsense is this?”
“It is true: the letter seemed to apply to either of us. Belle thought
he liked her—she hated Noone, she was glad to get away from it—at
any price,” she gasped, in short and breathless sentences.
“And you paid the price?”
To this question Betty gave no answer or sign, beyond a slight
quivering of the lips.
“Well, go on,” continued the Collector imperiously.
“I never knew the truth, until Mrs. Redmond was dying, and then
she told me all. Belle went out to Bombay in complete ignorance,
and George met her, and married her.”
“The fool! the maniac! the great idiot!” cried Mr. Redmond,
throwing up his hands. “He must have been out of his mind.”
“He believed that he was acting for the best,” said Betty with a kind
of proud severity, “and I think he did right; what would have become
of Belle, destitute and friendless? He has always kept his secret till
now, but she opened his dispatch box, and read her mother’s letter;
she never had a suspicion of the truth till to-night.”
“And the effect of her discovery?”
“Was to turn me instantly out of her house, but I know she will be
sorry to-morrow—she always is.”
“Well—well—well,” turning about and pacing the room, with his
hands clasped behind him under his dressing-gown. “I am fifty years
of age, and this story—this extraordinary story—transcends
everything in my experience either at home or abroad. Poor Holroyd,
unfortunate devil! Betty, you will never cross her threshold, and
never speak a word to that termagant again.”
“No, nor to him either, uncle; we agreed to-night that we would be
strangers for the future.”
“Oh, ha, hum,” stroking his chin; “well I daresay you are right, you
can’t cut a woman and know her husband.”
“And now, Uncle Bernard, I am so very, very tired, you will let me
go, won’t you?”
She looked haggard and completely exhausted, her face was as
white as her gown.
The horror and shame of Belle’s outbreak, that terrible walk
through rain and darkness, the ordeal of having to lay bare her
secret to her uncle, had been too much, even for her fortitude.
“Come and kiss me, Betty. I declare you are a good girl, you are a
true Redmond, and have a fine moral backbone. Poor Betty, you
have had a hard part to play.”
She approached and laid her lips softly on his forehead—lips that
were icy cold; she was so grave, and pale, and so utterly unlike
herself, that her uncle was slightly awed, and suffered her to depart
in silence.
Mr. Redmond still sat up, and actually lit a cigar to soothe his
ruffled feelings, and to re-arrange his thoughts.
“That old Redmond woman ought to have been transported.
Supposing Betty had got the letter all right, and come out and
married Holroyd? Well, he liked him, he used to be a capital fellow,
but as it was, Betty could do far better, and marry someone in his
own service.”
Poor Holroyd! he had made him his confidante about Hammond
too. Yes, that was certainly an awkward mistake. It could not be
possible that Betty had still—no—no, out of the question. However,
she was a sensible girl, they had better be strangers in future, but he
himself was not going to give up George’s acquaintance (man-like,
he considered that a woman could easily make sacrifices that were
disagreeable and unnecessary for him). They could still meet and
dine at the club; they could go out shooting together. As to George’s
wife, to relinquish her society was no hardship.
Meanwhile Captain Holroyd was re-turning homewards with
headlong speed; he had now no girl companion to guide and protect,
and as for himself, he did not care. At first he determined to go to an
hotel, or the club, for the remainder of the night, but on second
thoughts, he changed his mind. He had never been one to send the
family linen to the public wash. He would endure to the end—and
this was almost the end. It required a man with a more hopeful
buoyant nature than his to resist sinking under the weight of his
surroundings. He would abandon the struggle once for all. The life
he led was not the existence of a self-respecting human being—it
was the life of a dog. He would offer Belle a tempting allowance,
leaving himself just sufficient for bare necessaries; he would tell her
that he could endure her society no longer, and that she must accept
it, and go—go home. If not, if she made a scandal, as she had once
threatened, he would sell out, and join some exploring party in
Africa, Australia, or Central America. Part they must; he was past the
days of piteous protestations, caresses, and hysterics, and he was
about to shape the rest of his life in another form. Belle and her
mother had ruined his happiness; he was an embittered,
disheartened, truly miserable man. All his best friends could give him
was pity and sympathy. As to what “might have been,” he dared not
trust himself to glance at it. He would free himself from Belle, and put
half the world between himself and Betty.
With this stern resolution in his mind, he found himself once more
at home—the door stood wide open, the lamp was flaring in the
drawing-room, and that apartment was precisely as he had left it—
with the overturned chair, and torn photograph, lying on the ground—
but empty. Where was Belle? The house seemed unnaturally quiet;
he looked into her bedroom, a pair of slippers lay in the middle of the
floor, as if they had been hastily kicked off. He called; there was no
reply; he searched, he took the lantern and went outside; the rain
was abating, for it was near dawn. He held the light close to the
ground, and saw the fresh footprints of two small shoes; they went
up the hill, not down. In an instant the truth flashed upon him. In a fit
of remorse, Belle had followed them and gone by the short cut—the
“closed” road. He seized the lantern, now burning very faintly, and
started at once in pursuit; for more than a mile he followed the
pathway, now ascending, now descending, sometimes between
rocks, sometimes between trees, sometimes along the bare edge of
a sheer naked precipice; and then the light went out, but as a faint
grey glimmer came creeping through the mists, he was able to make
his way on at a steady pace, though his heart thumped loudly
against his ribs, and his nerves were strung to their utmost tension,
for a chill shadow of apprehension seemed to stalk beside him!
Suddenly, turning a sharp corner, he was brought to a standstill, by a
ghastly break in the narrow track. The hill above had slipped down
five hundred feet, carrying with it, rocks, trees and pathway; loose
showers of little stones were still trickling lakewards, and as the
dawn came stealing over the crest of Cheena, and penetrated
through the dispersing clouds, George was aware of a small object,
a dog—shivering miserably on the brink of the gaping chasm, or
running to and fro, with every token of anguish and despair.
Belle’s wish had been accomplished. “Mossoo” survived her.
THE END.
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Green Methods for Wastewater

Treatment Mu. Naushad

Life Cycle Assessment of Wastewater Treatment First

Green Photocatalysts Mu. Naushad

New Technologies for Electrochemical Applications 1st

A New Generation Material Graphene: Applications in

Application of Microalgae in Wastewater Treatment

Practical wastewater treatment Second Edition Russell

Wastewater Engineering Treatment and Resource Recovery

Wastewater Engineering Treatment and Reuse SOLUTIONS

Organic Contaminants in Riverine and Groundwater Systems

Sustainable Agriculture Reviews

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11480

Green Methods for

ISSN 2213-7114 ISSN 2213-7122 (electronic)

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Mu. Naushad

1 Visible-Light-Responsive Nanostructured Materials

9 Green Technologies for Wastewater Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Mu. Naushad is presently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of

Saravanan Rajendran has received his Ph.D. in Physics-Material Science in 2013

the framework of an EPSRC-Global Challenges Research Fund for the removal of

Eric Lichtfouse (Ph.D.), born in 1960, is an Environmental Chemist working at the

Ali Akbari-Fakhrabadi Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechan-

R. Justin Joseyphus Magnetic Materials Laboratory, National Institute of Tech-

Yashmin Pattnaik School of Biotechnology, KIIT Deemed to be University,

Hugues Kamdem Paumo, Raghunath Das, Madhumita Bhaumik,

Abstract Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls

H. K. Paumo · R. Das · M. Bhaumik

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 1

Keywords Persistent organic pollutants · Heterogeneous photocatalysis · Visible-

POPs Persistent organic pollutants

Fig. 1.1 Flow chart of POPs into the environment

1.2 Classiﬁcations of POPs

Fig. 1.2 Example of selected POPs

endosulfan. Recently in 2016, apprehension on the benign nature of

Strangely, several reports on the evaluation of POPs chemical substitutes, based

1.3 Toxicity of POPs

Previously, Costa et al. (2015) also described caspase-dependent apoptosis in mouse

1.4 Traditional Water Treatment Processes

Several processes, including bioremediation, coagulation/ﬂocculation, membrane

Ozone can also be combined with UV-light irradiation, hydrogen peroxide

1.5 Fundamental of Heterogeneous Photocatalysis

Within a semiconductor, the electronic energy organization involves two distinct

Fig. 1.3 Basic principle of heterogeneous photocatalysis

Alongside the importance of energy band gap in photocatalytic process, the

By bringing together concentration terms, the following equation is obtained:

Integration of Eq. 1.11 results in:

1.6 Overview of Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalysts

In visible-light-responsive photocatalysis, the semiconductor should be able to

1.6.1 TiO2-Based Photocatalysts for Visible-Light-Assisted

Performing suitable band engineering by coupling TiO2 nanostructures with mate-

(10 mg/L at pH 7) in 20 mL solution after 20 min. The radical trapping investigation

Doping plays an essential role in amending the optical properties of semiconductor

Degraded products +CO2

“And thereby hangs a tale.”

The monsoon broke with a violence peculiar to the Himalayas, the

“Covering with moss the dead’s unclosèd eye