Synergistic Performance between Visible-Light Photocatalysis and Thermocatalysis for VOCs Oxidation over Robust Ag/F-Codoped SrTiO3

Catalytic oxidation is an important removal route of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pollution. Traditional thermocatalytic oxidation requires either expensive noble metal catalysts or a high reaction temperature, while most photocatalytic oxidation suffers from a low efficiency for the purification of high concentration or refractory VOCs (e.g., aromatic compounds). Herein, we present an efficient visible-light-induced photothermocatalytic VOCs degradation way through constructing the fluorine ions and cheap Ag nanoparticles comodified SrTiO3 catalyst (Ag/F-STO). A photothermocatalytic synergistic effect is demonstrated on Ag/F-STO, providing a higher degradation efficiency than the contribution sum of photocatalytic oxidation and thermocatalytic oxidation. A higher toluene degradation rate constant than state-of-the-art photocatalytic toluene oxidation process and a (>) 95% conversion of benzene, toluene, and xylene mineralization are achieved on Ag/F-STO by photothermocatalysis at 90 degrees C upon visible light irradiation. The results provide a way for robust and economic VOCs removal and corresponding catalyst design.