Work

Photocatalytic degradation of pesticides by titanium dioxide and titanium pillared purified clays

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Titanium dioxide was synthesized by the sol–gel method and titanium pillared purified clay was prepared with two titanium contents: 1.15 and 10.5 mmol of Ti per gram of clay. The composites were synthesized by immobilizing TiO2 onto surfactant-pillared clay via ion exchange reaction between clay with cation surfactant, cetyl-trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTMABr). The composition and texture of the prepared photocatalysts were characterized with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX). The adsorption performance and photocatalytic activities of the prepared samples were investigated using 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxypropionic acid (2,4-DP) as models of organic pollutants. The results were obtained that these photocatalysts can effectively degrade selected pesticides. The removal efficiency increases with the Ti content in the pillared clay.

Source: Arabian Journal of Chemistry

DOI: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2011.04.005