Degradation of terbuthylazine by Fe/TiO2 with visible-light-driven photo-Fenton catalytic activity

Abstract

In order to improve the catalytic activity of Fenton catalyst, a composite catalyst, Fe/TiO2, with both visible-light photocatalytic and Fenton-like catalytic activities was synthesized via a brief solvothermal process. The XRD and SEM results indicated that Fe was dispersed homogeneously on the surface of TiO2 in the form of Fe2O3, and the loading of Fe did not have significant effects on the particle size and morphology of TiO2. The EDS results showed that the loading content of Fe was about 1.4 wt%. The photocatalytic results showed that the prepared Fe/TiO2 composite catalyst had excellent catalytic behaviors for terbuthylazine degradation under visible-irradiation with H2O2 assistance, the degradation ratio reached up to 90% after 120 min. The reinforced degradation performance were primarily attributable to the introduction of carrier TiO2, which expanded visible response range by H2O2 adsorption, and accelerated the cycle of Fe (Ⅱ)/Fe (Ⅲ). The fluorescent spectroscopy results revealed that the degradation process of terbuthylazine involved the generation and participation of active species such as hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals. This study is expected to provide a visual approach for designing a novel photo-Fenton catalyst to jointly utilize both photocatalytic and Fenton activities, which can be better applied to the actual use of organics purification in wastewater.