Abstract
With increasingly stringent environmental regulations, the removal of nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs) from gasoline fuel has become a more and more important research subject. In this work, we have successfully synthesized TiO2/α-Fe2O3 heterogeneous photocatalysts with different mass ratios of TiO2vs. α-Fe2O3. Taking photocatalytic denitrification of typical alkali NCCs, pyridine, in gasoline fuel under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm) as the model reaction, the TiO2/α-Fe2O3 hybrids have exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with pure TiO2 and α-Fe2O3, giving a pyridine removal ratio of ∼100% after irradiation for 240 min. The improved photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the integrative effect of the enhanced light absorption intensity and more efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Importantly, this type of heterogeneous photocatalysts can be easily separate in the reaction medium by an external magnetic field that is very important for industrial purpose. In addition, major reaction intermediates have been identified by the liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (HPLC-MS) and a tentative photocatalytic denitrification mechanism has been proposed.
Highlights
NO2, NO and unburned hydrocarbon particles) will cause photochemical smog and resulting in serious hazardous effects on ecosystems and human health[1, 2]
Α-Fe2O3 has one significant drawback: its photocatalytic performance is limited by the high recombination rate of the photogenerated charge carriers
The utilization of TiO2/α-Fe2O3 composites in photocatalytic denitrification of nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs) from the original gasoline fuel has remained unavailable so far
Summary
NO2, NO and unburned hydrocarbon particles) will cause photochemical smog and resulting in serious hazardous effects on ecosystems and human health[1, 2]. Combining TiO2 with other semiconductors to construct heterostructures is considered as one of the best approaches to effectively improve its solar energy conversion and effectively accelerate the separation of photoexcited charge carriers[21]. Α-Fe2O3 has one significant drawback: its photocatalytic performance is limited by the high recombination rate of the photogenerated charge carriers. It is reasonable to believe that this heterostructure has the enormous potential to increase the separation and transfer efficiency of photongenerated charge carriers and conquer the drawbacks of pure TiO2 and α-Fe2O327, 28. The utilization of TiO2/α-Fe2O3 composites in photocatalytic denitrification of NCCs from the original gasoline fuel has remained unavailable so far. We report for the first time that the TiO2/α-Fe2O3 composites can be utilized as photoactive and durable photocatalysts toward the denitrification of one kind of typical NCCs, pyridine, in original gasoline fuel under ambient conditions. The possible photocatalytic reaction mechanism has been investigated in detail
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