Journal
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Volume 263, Issue -, Pages 36-44Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.07.058
Keywords
WO3-TiO2; Long-term stability; Photocatalytic activity
Categories
Funding
- PAICYT-UANL
- CONACyT
- [CONACYT-193883]
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In this study, the solar photocatalytic activity (SPA) of WO3/TiO2 photocatalysts synthesized by the sol gel method with two different percentages of WO3 (2 and 5%wt) was evaluated using malathion as a model contaminant. For comparative purpose bare TiO2 was also prepared by sol gel process. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy (DRUV-vis), specific surface area by the BET method (SSA(BET)), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy with a high annular angle dark field detector (STEM-HAADF). The XRD, Raman, HRTEM and STEM-HAADF analyses indicated that WO3 was present as a monoclinic crystalline phase with nanometric cluster sizes (1.1 +/- 0.1 nm for 2% WO3/TiO2 and 1.35 +/- 0.3 nm for 5% WO3/TiO2) and uniformly dispersed on the surface of TiO2. The particle size of the materials was 19.4 +/- 33 nm and 25.6 +/- 3 nm for 2% and 5% WO3/TiO2, respectively. The SPA was evaluated on the degradation of commercial malathion pesticide using natural solar light. The 2% WO3/TiO2 photocatalyst exhibited the best photocatalytic activity achieving 76% of total organic carbon (TOC) abatement after 300 min compared to the 5% WO3/TiO2 and bare TiO2 photocatalysts, which achieved 28 and 47% mineralization, respectively. Finally, experiments were performed to assess 2% WO3/TiO2 catalyst activity on repeated uses; after several successive cycles its photocatalytic activity was retained showing long-term stability. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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