Abstract
Photodegradation of organic compounds in water The application of photocatalytic processes for the decontamination treatment of polluted water has inspired very extensive studies. Titanium dioxide with its large band gap energy and appropriate redox potential was found as one of the most promising semiconductors for the photodegradation of pollutants in the water as well as in gas phase. The titania-silica aerogels obtained by a simple co-hydrolysis method was applied in the photodegradation of the model organic compound. Different ageing times and heat treatment temperatures were found to influence both the activity and the textural properties of the photocatalysts. The obtained aerogels are efficient photodegradation catalysts of methylene blue and allow a removal up to 98 and 78% of the model pollutant from 20 and 500 ppm solutions, respectively.
Highlights
Application of heterogeneous photocatalysis, one of Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP), have gained much attention in recent years
In those aerogels silica provides an excellent porous structure with an extremely high surfaced area and porosity, allowing good adsorption of pollutants. It is transparent for irradiation in the range needed for the photo excitation of the titania species which can be highly dispersed in/on the silica matrix
The preparation procedure of aerogel is based on the sol-gel process and involves hydrolysis of the metal precursors followed by a condensation of the obtained species with the formation of gel
Summary
Application of heterogeneous photocatalysis, one of Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP), have gained much attention in recent years. The titania-silica systems in the form of aerogels have been suggested to be more active than the pure titania catalysts. In those aerogels silica provides an excellent porous structure with an extremely high surfaced area and porosity, allowing good adsorption of pollutants. It is transparent for irradiation in the range needed for the photo excitation of the titania species which can be highly dispersed in/on the silica matrix. Our recent study on the photodegradation of salicylic acid[8] indicates better utilization of titania particles in the titania-silica aerogels than in the case of pure TiO2 catalysts
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