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Black titania with increased defective sites for phenol photodegradation under visible light

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Abstract

Herein, the effect of an acid pre-treatment over TiO2 reduction was studied to obtain black titania with increased defectives sites. A commercial TiO2 (anatase > 99%; Merck) was pre-treated with aqueous solutions of boric, nitric, phosphoric and sulfuric acids at 353 K. Afterwards, the solids were annealed for 2 h at 773 K under 50 mL min−1 H2 flow. The above materials were analyzed by XRD, FTIR, XPS and UV–Vis to relate the chemical changes induced by the acid pre-treatment with crystalline and optical characteristics and; hence, to the photoactivity. The O/Ti surface ratio nor the energy band gap value of the TiO2 was altered by the pre-treatment using sulfuric acid; therefore, the photocatalytic activity was not modified using this acid. Despite the fact that pre-treatment with boric and phosphoric acid decreased the energy band gap to 2.1 and 2.9; respectively (which is favorable for the absorption of visible light), the incorporation of borate and phosphate species in the surface was detrimental for the photocatalytic process. The O/Ti ratio dropped from 2.0 to 1.5 after the reduction of the sample pretreated with nitric acid. Since more oxygen vacancies are introduced by using nitric acid, the visible-light absorption was increased and the phenol photodegradation was boosted. The modulation of the defective sites allows to engineering the TiO2 band-gap for solar-driven applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Santiago Marrero, Maria C. Goite and Ismael González for XRD, FTIR and XPS measurements, respectively. This project was funded by CDCH-UCV No. PG-03-0788-2013/1. KMF acknowledge CONACYT-México for the postdoctoral scholarship 2019-2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados, S. C. (CIMAV), Unidad Monterrey, Alianza Norte 202, Parque de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica, 66628, Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico

    Keyla M. Fuentes

  2. Laboratorio de Catálisis Homogénea, Centro de Equilibrios en Solución, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela

    Doménico Venuti

  3. Laboratorio de Desarrollo de Procesos, Centro de Catálisis Petróleo y Petroquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, AP 47102, Venezuela

    Paulino Betancourt

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  1. Keyla M. Fuentes
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Correspondence to Keyla M. Fuentes.

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Fuentes, K.M., Venuti, D. & Betancourt, P. Black titania with increased defective sites for phenol photodegradation under visible light. Reac Kinet Mech Cat 131, 423–435 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-020-01832-6

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