Degradation and mineralization of 4-tert-butylphenol in water using Fe-doped TiO2 catalysts

Abstract

In the present work, the photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of 4-tert-butylphenol in water was studied using Fe-doped TiO2 nanoparticles under UV light irradiation. Fe-doped TiO2 catalysts (0.5, 1, 2 and 4 wt.%) were prepared using wet impregnation and characterized via SEM/EDS, XRD, XRF and TEM, while their photocatalytic activity and stability was attended via total organic carbon, 4-tert-butyl phenol, acetic acid, formic acid and leached iron concentrations measurements. The effect of H2O2 addition was also examined. The 4% Fe/TiO2 demonstrated the highest photocatalytic efficiency in terms of total organic carbon removal (86%). The application of UV/H2O2 resulted in 31% total organic carbon removal and 100% 4-t-butylphenol conversion, however combining Fe/TiO2 catalysts with H2O2 under UV irradiation did not improve the photocatalytic performance. Increasing the content of iron on the catalyst from 0.5 to 4% considerably decreased the intermediates formed and increased the production of carbon dioxide. The photocatalytic degradation of 4-tert-butylphenol followed pseudo-second order kinetics. Leaching of iron was observed mainly in the case of 4% Fe/TiO2, but it was considered negligible taking into account the iron load on catalysts. The electric energy per order was found in the range of 28–147 kWh/m3/order and increased with increasing the iron content of the catalyst.

Fabrication of Titanium Dioxide/Carbon Fiber (TiO2/CF) Composites for Removal of Methylene Blue (MB) from Aqueous Solution with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

“…Due to the adverse effects of these refractory organic compounds on the environment, it is necessary to develop new methods to degrade them. Photocatalysis is a promising technique for the photodegradation of harmful chemicals in wastewater [9][10][11][12][13][14]. TiO 2 and TiO 2 -based nanostructures are being used for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants to protect the environment [15][16][17].…”

Physical Properties of Fast-Growing Wood-Polymer Nano Composite Synthesized through TiO2 Nanoparticle Impregnation

“…The figure-of-merit is the electrical energy per order, defined as the number of kWh of electrical energy required for reducing the concentration of a pollutant by 1 order of magnitude (i.e., 90% degradation), in 1 m 3 of the contaminated sample [ 51 ]. The electric energy per order, E EO (kWh/m 3 /order), is commonly used, which can be estimated using an equation for a batch reactor [ 52 ]. Equation (8) was as follows: where P is the electrical power of the UV lamp (kW), t is irradiation time (min), V is the volume of the treated wastewater (L), C o is the initial concentration of the pollutant (mg L −1 ), and C f is the final concentration of the pollutant (mg L −1 ).…”

Progress on the nanoscale spherical TiO2 photocatalysts: Mechanisms, synthesis and degradation applications

“…When the doping concentration is too high, the doped metal ions are likely to form the recombination center of photogenerated carriers. [ 110,111 ]…”