Facile Synthesis of Gram-Scale Mesoporous Ag/TiO 2 Photocatalysts for Pharmaceutical Water Pollutant Removal and Green Hydrogen Generation
2023
Online
academicJournal
Zugriff:
This work demonstrates a two-step gram-scale synthesis of presynthesized silver (Ag) nanoparticles impregnated with mesoporous TiO 2 and evaluates their feasibility for wastewater treatment and hydrogen gas generation under natural sunlight. Paracetamol was chosen as the model pharmaceutical pollutant for evaluating photocatalytic performance. A systematic material analysis (morphology, chemical environment, optical bandgap energy) of the Ag/TiO 2 photocatalyst powder was carried out, and the influence of material properties on the performance is discussed in detail. The experimental results showed that the decoration of anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles (size between 80 and 100 nm) with 5 nm Ag nanoparticles (1 wt %) induced visible-light absorption and enhanced charge carrier separation. As a result, 0.01 g/L Ag/TiO 2 effectively removed 99% of 0.01 g/L paracetamol in 120 min and exhibited 60% higher photocatalytic removal than pristine TiO 2 . Alongside paracetamol degradation, Ag/TiO 2 led to the generation of 1729 μmol H2 g –1 h –1 . This proof-of-concept approach for tandem pollutant degradation and hydrogen generation was further evaluated with rare earth metal (lanthanum)- and nonmetal (nitrogen)-doped TiO 2 , which also showed a positive response. Using a combination of ab initio calculations and our new theory model, we revealed that the enhanced photocatalytic performance of Ag/TiO 2 was due to the surface Fermi-level change of TiO 2 and lowered surface reaction energy barrier for water pollutant oxidation. This work opens new opportunities for exploiting tandem photocatalytic routes beyond water splitting and understanding the simultaneous reactions in metal-doped metal oxide photocatalyst systems under natural sunlight.
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Facile Synthesis of Gram-Scale Mesoporous Ag/TiO 2 Photocatalysts for Pharmaceutical Water Pollutant Removal and Green Hydrogen Generation
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Cherif, Yassine ; Azzi, Hajer ; Sridharan, Kishore ; Ji, Seulgi ; Choi, Heechae ; Allan, Michael G. ; Benaissa, Sihem ; Saidi-Bendahou, Karima ; Damptey, Lois ; Ribeiro, Camila ; Krishnamurthy, Satheesh ; Nagarajan, Sanjay ; Maroto-Valer, M. Mercedes ; Kuehnel, Moritz F. ; Pitchaimuthu, Sudhagar |
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Veröffentlichung: | 2023 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
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