Electrogenerated iron supported on mesoporous titania nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol

Abstract

In this research, various weight loadings of Fe (3%, 5%, 7%, and 10%) supported on mesoporous titania nanoparticles (MTNs) were prepared using in-situ electrolysis before being characterised using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, surface area analysis, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The performance of the Fe–MTN catalysts was investigated under visible light illumination based on the photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol. Among the catalysts, 3 wt% Fe–MTN demonstrated the highest degradation (99%), followed by 10, 7, and 5 wt% with degradations of 71%, 58%, and 54%, respectively. It has been indicated that the addition of Fe into MTN has enhanced the photocatalytic performance by lowering the catalyst's band gap to improve its efficiency under visible light. The kinetic study has shown that the reaction followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic model and the catalyst remained stable with a slight decrease after five cycles of degradation. Furthermore, the catalyst illustrated a positive performance in photocatalytic degradation of phenolic derivatives.