Polyoxometalates/TiO2 photocatalysts with engineered facets for enhanced degradation of bisphenol A through persulfate activation

By Tang, Qingwen; An, Xiaoqiang; Lan, Huachun; Liu, Huijuan; Qu, Jiuhui
Published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 2019

Abstract

Photocatalysis-assisted persulfate oxidation is an attractive technology for water decontamination, due to the enhanced reaction kinetics and non-independence of pH. Understanding the microstructure-dependent activity of TiO2-based photocatalysts for persulfate activation is challenging but vital. Herein, the strategy of facet engineering was used to improve the efficiency of catalysts for bisphenol A (BPA) degradation. The surface modification of 001-faceted TiO2 by Fe-containing polyoxometalates (Fe-POMs) not only improved the separation of charge carriers, but also provided active sites for persulfate activation. The synergistic effects resulted in the 10- and 33-times higher activity than single photocatalysis and photoactivated persulfate, respectively. Fe-POMs/001-TiO2 with exposed high-energy facets even presented 2.1- and 3.6-fold increased efficiency than 101-faceted and irregular samples. This work presents a new opportunity to boost the efficiency of photocatalytic-persulfate oxidation for water purification by engineering the exposed facets of catalysts.

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