Issue 11, 2017

Efficient visible light-driven in situ photocatalytic destruction of harmful alga by worm-like N,P co-doped TiO2/expanded graphite carbon layer (NPT-EGC) floating composites

Abstract

The bloom of harmful algae in water has adversely affected water quality, local economies, and human health. Efficient visible light driven floating photocatalysts, namely N,P co-doped TiO2/expanded graphite carbon layer (NPT-EGC) composites, were successfully synthesized using a sol-carbonization method, and then applied as algaecides. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized by means of XRD, FESEM/EDS, TEM, FTIR spectroscopy, XPS, UV-vis DRS, and PL spectroscopy. The results show that the NPT-EGC composites have a worm-like structure with the N,P co-doped TiO2 particles immobilized on the surface. Among the NPT-EGC photocatalysts with different calcination temperatures, NPT-EGC450 exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity. The removal rate of the algal cells is 98.15% for NPT-EGC450 following 9 h of visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic destruction process can be divided into a rapid adsorption phase and a repeat of the cell reduction phase-lag phase. During the photocatalytic process, the algal cells were damaged as a result of photocatalysis induced oxidation and inhibition. In addition, we simulated the release of MC-LR in the photocatalytic destruction process for the algal cells. The results show that the photocatalyst can remove both the algal cells and MC-LR simultaneously with high efficiency. After three consecutive cycles, the removal rate of the algal cells is still more than 90% for NPT-EGC450, which demonstrates that the NPT-EGC photocatalyst has good reusability and stability.

Graphical abstract: Efficient visible light-driven in situ photocatalytic destruction of harmful alga by worm-like N,P co-doped TiO2/expanded graphite carbon layer (NPT-EGC) floating composites

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Jan 2017
Accepted
01 May 2017
First published
01 May 2017

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2017,7, 2335-2346

Efficient visible light-driven in situ photocatalytic destruction of harmful alga by worm-like N,P co-doped TiO2/expanded graphite carbon layer (NPT-EGC) floating composites

X. Wang, X. Wang, J. Zhao, J. Song, L. Zhou, R. Ma, J. Wang, X. Tong and Y. Chen, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2017, 7, 2335 DOI: 10.1039/C7CY00133A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements