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Effective coupling of phenol adsorption and photodegradation at the surface of micro-and mesoporous TiO2-activated carbon materials

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Abstract

Novel titania supported activated carbon catalysts were prepared by a straightforward titania coating route of a microporous activated carbon (AC) derived from shea nut shells, and investigated in phenol photocatalytic degradation. The proposed coating method enables a fixation of the preformed titania anatase nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) in the external porosity thus allowing their accessibility towards UV irradiation, without causing any reduction of the AC specific area. Interestingly, the coating treatment reshapes the porous texture of the as-prepared TiO2–AC composite materials resulting in an improvement of the adsorption capacity and the formation of an additional mesoporosity on the TiO2-AC surface. Photocatalytic experiments carried out in a batch reactor led to 97% elimination rate of phenol in an aqueous solution with the AC catalysts containing TiO2 NPs in the range from 11 to 34 wt%. The photodegradation performance of the TiO2–AC catalysts was maintained over several successive cycles, without the need of any regeneration treatment. Considering both the textural and microstructural features of the composite materials and their associated phenol removal kinetics, in this paper, we provide new insights into phenol photodegradation pathway involving an effective coupling of adsorption and photodegradation functionalities, resulting in a photo-assisted regeneration mechanism of the catalyst.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by CIRAD and the SCAC program of the French embassy in Yaoundé-Cameroon. The authors are grateful to Odilon Changotade (2iE), Gilles Hernandez, Yonko Gorand, Eric Bèche, Danielle Perarnau (PROMES-CNRS), Cyril Vallicari (IEM), Ghislaine Volle and Jeremy Valette (CIRAD) for their great respective support on materials characterization. Special thanks are also extended to Anne Julbe and André Ayral for fruitful discussions and for providing the commercial titania sol.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut International d’Ingénierie de l’Eau et de l’Environnement (2iE), Laboratoire Biomasse Energie et Biocarburants (LBEB), Rue de la Science, 01, BP 594, Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

    C. Telegang Chekem, Y. Richardson & J. Blin

  2. PROMES‐CNRS (Processes, Materials, Solar Energy Laboratory), UPR 8521, Rambla de la Thermodynamique, 66100, Perpignan, France

    C. Telegang Chekem, G. Plantard & V. Goetz

  3. University of PerpignanVia Domitia, 52 Av. Paul-Alduy, 66100, Perpignan, France

    C. Telegang Chekem & G. Plantard

  4. Institut Européen des Membranes, UMR 5635, Université de Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    M. Drobek

  5. CIRAD, UPR BioWooEB, 34398, Montpellier, France

    J. Blin

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  1. C. Telegang Chekem
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Correspondence to Y. Richardson.

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Chekem, C.T., Richardson, Y., Drobek, M. et al. Effective coupling of phenol adsorption and photodegradation at the surface of micro-and mesoporous TiO2-activated carbon materials. Reac Kinet Mech Cat 122, 1297–1321 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-017-1265-0

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