Synthesis of pure and C/S/N co-doped Titania on Al mesh and their photocatalytic usage in Benzene degradation

Abstract

Pure and co-doped Titania thin films were prepared on aluminum substrates through the sol-gel method. The co-doped sample showed higher photocatalytic activity on benzene degradation compared to pure TiO2 under visible light illumination. XRD results showed the anatase phase for both TiO2 and co-doped TiO2 lattices with an average crystalline size of 12.9 and 10.4 nm, respectively. According to the UV-visible absorption spectra results, co-doped Titania showed higher visible light absorption compared to pure Titania. The synergistic effect of dopants caused a redshift to visible light absorption and also the lifetime of the photogenerated electron-hole were increased by induced electron levels in Titania lattice. The novelty of this study is the reactor’s specific design. We employed Al mesh as thin film substrate for 3 main reasons, first, the large surface area of the Al mesh causes to increase specific surface area of the photocatalysts, also it is a formable substrate which can be engineered geometrically to decrease the shadow spots so the thin films will receive the highest light irradiation. Also, the Al mesh flexibility facilitates the procedure of reactor design to reach a minimum pressure drop of airflow while it is installed in the air conditioners or HVAC systems.