Abstract
Abstract TiO2 immobilized in Sepiolite (TiO2/Sep) was successfully prepared by the sol-gel technique, with titanium isopropoxide as the precursor for the formation of TiO2 in the anatase phase calcined at 400 °C. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled to energy dispersive spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The results showed that TiO2/Sep structure was identified in all characterizations, showing the specific peaks, bands, mass loss, and morphology after the impregnation process. Photocatalytic experiments were performed under UV irradiation with various photocatalyst concentrations and pH effects in the reaction. The prepared samples presented 72% photocatalytic efficiency for eosin (EA) dye discoloration after 150 min under UV light. This efficiency was attributed to the radicals generated from the TiO2 and the high specific surface area, showing that TiO2/Sep is promising candidate in the degradation of organic pollutants.
Highlights
Among the anthropogenic activities that have contributed to the degradation of water quality, industrial activity is undoubtedly one of the main sources of pollution[1,2]
The sepiolite showed reflections on 2θ = 7.44o, 12.06o, 13.38o, 17.86o, 19.90o, 20.76o, 23.72o, 26.74o, 28.12o, 35.16o, 36.84o, and 40.14o, attributed to the (110), (130), (200), (150), (060), (131), (260), (400), (331), (191), (291), and (541) planes; indexing of the planes was done according to reference crystallographic sheet JCPDS 75-159740,41
As can be seen from the plane overlays, the crystallinity of clay decreased compared to the material with TiO2 immobilized, it maintains the crystallographic profile of the sepiolite, ensuring incorporation of the oxide into the clay structure, as identified by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique
Summary
Among the anthropogenic activities that have contributed to the degradation of water quality, industrial activity is undoubtedly one of the main sources of pollution[1,2]. Advanced oxidative processes (AOPs) have been especially highlighted for their ability to degrade a large number of recalcitrant substances through procedures that require only simple and low-cost operations[11,12]. Among photochemical AOPs, photocatalysis is an emerging technology for the degradation of organic pollutants[13]. There are several advantages over competing processes, such as complete mineralization, ambient temperature and pressure conditions, Based on the photocatalytic scope, the application of clay-based materials as carriers and/or heterostructures with semiconducting oxides[16,17,18,19], for example, TiO2 (titania) has attracted growing interest due to its properties of low toxicity, low cost and high photocatalytic efficiency, are being used as reference and/or standard photocatalysts because they combine attractive properties like chemical stability, high oxidizing power and nontoxicity[20,21,22,23]. TiO2 clusters become unfavorable to photocatalytic process[27]
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