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Green synthesis of UV and visible light active TiO2/WO3 powders and films for malachite green and ethylene photodegradation

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Abstract

Powder nanocomposites of TiO2/WO3 are prepared by a simple solid-state thermal procedure from commercial oxide powders and cast thereafter as a film coating on TLC substrate. The WO3 content in the powder composites is varied from 0.5 to 50%. The phase composition and morphology of titania/tungsten composites and films is characterized by SEM and X-ray analysis. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2/WO3 powders is tested in the degradation of malachite green dye in aqueous solutions under UV and visible light irradiation. The effect of preparation temperature on the photocatalytic activity is also investigated. It is found out that the mixed powder of 5%WO3 manifests the best photocatalytic performance. The prepared powder photocatalyst is deposited as a film coating on TLC sheet for gas-phase application. The as-obtained composite coated photocatalysts with 5%WO3 are tested for air purification from ethylene contamination under UV and visible light illumination. The TiO2/WO3 coated photocatalysts show always a higher efficiency in comparison to that of the pure TiO2.

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Acknowledgements

This research is financially supported by Project DFNI-T02/16 of Bulgarian Fund of Scientific Research (No. 2742) and FP7 Horizon 2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Nanoparticle Science and Technology, Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sofia, 1 James Bourchier Blvd., 1164, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Assya Bojinova, Nina Kaneva, Karolina Papazova & Dimitre Dimitrov

  2. Institute of Catalysis, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. Georgi Bonchev Str., Block 11, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Alexander Eliyas

  3. Institute of Physical Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. Georgi Bonchev Str., Block 11, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Emilia Stoyanova-Eliyas

Authors
  1. Assya Bojinova
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  2. Nina Kaneva
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  3. Karolina Papazova
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  4. Alexander Eliyas
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Correspondence to Nina Kaneva.

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Bojinova, A., Kaneva, N., Papazova, K. et al. Green synthesis of UV and visible light active TiO2/WO3 powders and films for malachite green and ethylene photodegradation. Reac Kinet Mech Cat 120, 821–832 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-016-1128-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-016-1128-0

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