Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of CuWO4 Doped TiO2 Photocatalyst Towards Carbamazepine Removal under UV Irradiation

Abstract

Abatement of contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs) in water sources has been widely studied employing TiO2 based heterogeneous photocatalysis. However, low quantum energy yield among other limitations of titania has led to its modification with other semiconductor materials for improved photocatalytic activity. In this work, a 0.05 wt.% CuWO4 over TiO2 was prepared as a powder composite. Each component part synthesized via the sol-gel method for TiO2, and CuWO4 by co-precipitation assisted hydrothermal method from precursor salts, underwent gentle mechanical agitation. Homogenization of the nanopowder precursors was performed by zirconia ball milling for 2 h. The final material was obtained after annealing at 500 °C for 3.5 h. Structural and morphological characterization of the synthesized material has been achieved employing X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) N2 adsorption–desorption analysis, Scanning electron microscopy-coupled Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) for optical characterization. The 0.05 wt.% CuWO4-TiO2 catalyst was investigated for its photocatalytic activity over carbamazepine (CBZ), achieving a degradation of almost 100% after 2 h irradiation. A comparison with pure TiO2 prepared under those same conditions was made. The effect of pH, chemical scavengers, H2O2 as well as contaminant ion effects (anions, cations), and humic acid (HA) was investigated, and their related influences on the photocatalyst efficiency towards CBZ degradation highlighted accordingly.

Synthesis of Cu-Doped TiO2 Nanocatalyst for the Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation and Mineralization of Gabapentin under UVA/LED Irradiation: Characterization and Photocatalytic Activity

“…•− ), followed by HO • and valence band holes (VB h+ ). The effect of radical scavengers on carbamazepine (CBZ) degradation was investigated in the CuWO 4 -TiO 2 process [52]. The results showed that the mechanism for the degradation of CBZ was the surface charge process driven by HO • , O 2…”

“…•− with less degradation potential; and (3) the hole scavenging proprieties of anions [52]. Therefore, the experiment was conducted with no anion sample.…”

“…The introduction of SO 4 2− decreased CBZ degradation, and a possible reason was the adherence of SO 4 2− to the surface of TiO 2 via Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds and perhaps the displacement of the surface hydroxyl group of TiO 2 via the ligand exchange mechanism. Additionally, SO 4 2− , due to the double charge, has a high adsorption ability onto the surface of the catalyst and a high scavenging affinity to HO • , and these reasons decreased the GBP degradation rate as compared to the other anions [52].…”

Synthesis of Monolithic TiO2 Aerogels With Relatively Low Shrinkage and Improved Formability Assisted by CTAB

“…Photocatalysis is one of the most popular topics (Znaidi et al, 2001;Topcu et al, 2016;Guo et al, 2018;Sanjay et al, 2019), and its efficiency is primarily affected by the specific surface area and grain size. To improve the photocatalytic effect, TiO 2 powder doped into different materials was discussed in previous studies (Anucha et al, 2021;Bathula et al, 2021). As aerogel is a kind of material with high specific surface area and large porosity (Wen et al, 2018;Yan et al, 2018;Bi et al, 2019;Wen et al, 2020), it is a better choice to study the photocatalysis of TiO 2 aerogel (Moussaoui et al, 2017;Qingge et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2018).…”

Rational Design of Non-Precious Metal Oxide Catalysts by Means of Advanced Synthetic and Promotional Routes

“…The latter can be accomplished by the employment of state-of-the-art nano-synthesis routes towards engineering particle's size and shape (e.g., nanocubes, nanorods) in conjunction to the use of appropriate modifiers (e.g., alkali, graphene oxide) and special pretreatment protocols. This holistic approach can exert a profound influence not only to the surface reactivity of metal sites in its own right, but also to metal-support interfacial activity, offering highly active and stable materials for real-life energy and environmental applications, such as the CO oxidation [7][8][9][10][11][12], N 2 O decomposition [13][14][15], CO 2 hydrogenation to value-added products [16][17][18][19][20], degradation of organic contaminants [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33], etc.…”