Solar Photocatalytic Degradation of 4‐Chlorophenol in Kaolinite Catalysts

Abstract

AbstractThis research applies semiconductor photocatalysts, which are formed by metal ion exchange on the surface of kaolinite catalyst with cations, to the study of photocatalytic degradation of 4‐chlorophenol.The analysis results of catalyst properties shows that, after sintering at 400 °C, kaolinite catalyst has a particle size of between 10–100 nm indicating the nano level of synthesized catalysts. Under the same condition, kaolinite‐Ag/Zn catalyst works better in degradation efficiency than single kaolinite‐Ag and kaolinite‐Zn catalysts. Kaolinite‐Zn catalyst declines in degradation efficacy after 150 minutes and performs poorer than the other three types of kaolinite catalysts. In the experiments of different amounts of catalysts, when the concentration exceeds 0.1 wt%, utilization of light energy and degradation efficiency will be reduced due to shielding effect. When at different pH values, the higher the pH value, the more OH‐will be released and that is beneficial for reaction with substances and the increase of reaction rate. Finally multivariate analysis proves that there is one determining factor that influences the photocatalytic degradation of 4‐chlorophenol in kaolinite catalysts, named as “the factor with intermediates competition degree,” the one affecting the 4‐CP degradation at different weight percentages that is referred to as the “shielding effect factor.”