Degradation and mineralization of 4-tert-butylphenol in water using Fe-doped TiO2 catalysts

Makhatova, Ardak and Ulykbanova, Gaukhar and Sadyk, Shynggys and Sarsenbay, Kali and Atabaev, Timur Sh. and Inglezakis, Vassilis J. and Poulopoulos, Stavros G. (2019) Degradation and mineralization of 4-tert-butylphenol in water using Fe-doped TiO2 catalysts. Scientific Reports, 9. 19284. ISSN 2045-2322 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55775-7)

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Abstract

In the present work, the photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of 4-tert-butylphenol in water was studied using Fe-doped TiO2 nanoparticles under UV light irradiation. Fe-doped TiO2 catalysts (0.5, 1, 2 and 4 wt.%) were prepared using wet impregnation and characterized via SEM/EDS, XRD, XRF and TEM, while their photocatalytic activity and stability was attended via total organic carbon, 4-tert-butyl phenol, acetic acid, formic acid and leached iron concentrations measurements. The effect of H2O2 addition was also examined. The 4% Fe/TiO2 demonstrated the highest photocatalytic efficiency in terms of total organic carbon removal (86%). The application of UV/H2O2 resulted in 31% total organic carbon removal and 100% 4-t-butylphenol conversion, however combining Fe/TiO2 catalysts with H2O2 under UV irradiation did not improve the photocatalytic performance. Increasing the content of iron on the catalyst from 0.5 to 4% considerably decreased the intermediates formed and increased the production of carbon dioxide. The photocatalytic degradation of 4-tert-butylphenol followed pseudo-second order kinetics. Leaching of iron was observed mainly in the case of 4% Fe/TiO2, but it was considered negligible taking into account the iron load on catalysts. The electric energy per order was found in the range of 28–147 kWh/m3/order and increased with increasing the iron content of the catalyst.

ORCID iDs

Makhatova, Ardak, Ulykbanova, Gaukhar, Sadyk, Shynggys, Sarsenbay, Kali, Atabaev, Timur Sh., Inglezakis, Vassilis J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0195-0417 and Poulopoulos, Stavros G.;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)