Abstract
In order to investigate the catalytic performance of anodic TiO2 nanotubes and their practical application in the treatment of refractory microcystins (MCs) in natural-water samples, TiO2 nanotubes of diameter of 50–80 nm were fabricated by anodization in C2H2O4·2H2O containing NH4F. Under irradiation with natural sunlight, MC-LR was totally degraded after 1 d using the anodic TiO2 nanotubes. In contrast, the removal efficiency without TiO2 nanotubes was as low as 47.7% within 20 d. In addition, a mixture of anatase and rutile TiO2 gave higher photocatalytic activity than the single phase did. The pH also influenced the adsorption capacity of the TiO2 nanotubes. The order of MC-LR degradation efficiencies at different pH values was 3.5 > 8.0 > 10.0. After five repeated experiments on the degradation of MC-LR for 7 h, the degradation efficiency was still stable.
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Su, Y., Deng, Y., Zhao, L. et al. Photocatalytic degradation of microcystin-LR using TiO2 nanotubes under irradiation with UV and natural sunlight. Chin. Sci. Bull. 58, 1156–1161 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5637-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5637-6