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Preparation, characterization, and photocatalytic activity evaluation of Fe–N-codoped TiO2/fly ash cenospheres floating photocatalyst

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Abstract

Nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (TiO2) and Fe–N-codoped TiO2 layers on fly ash cenospheres (FAC) as floating photocatalyst were successfully prepared through sol–gel method. Photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet (UV)–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and nitrogen adsorption analyses for Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area. Photocatalytic efficiency of the prepared catalyst was evaluated through using the decomposition of Rhodamine B (RhB) as a model compound under visible light irradiation. Photocatalytic activity and kinetics of catalyst under visible light were detected in details from different Fe/Ti mole ratios by detecting photodegradation of RhB. Experimental results show that when the calcination temperature was 550 °C, the dosage of FAC was 3.0 g, and the mole ratio of Fe/Ti was 0.71 %; the synthesized Fe–N-TiO2/FAC photocatalyst presented as anatase phase and that N and Fe ions were doped into TiO2 lattice. The material’s specific surface area was 34.027 m2/g, and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy shows that the edge of the photon absorption has been red shifted up to 400–500 nm. Fe–N-codoped titanium dioxide on FAC had excellent photocatalytic activity during the process of photodegradation of RhB under visible light irradiation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21277097, 21377095).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Jingke Song, Xuejiang Wang, Yunjie Bu, Jing Zhang, Xin Wang, Jiayu Huang, Jie Chen & Jianfu Zhao

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  1. Jingke Song
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  2. Xuejiang Wang
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  3. Yunjie Bu
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  5. Xin Wang
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  8. Jianfu Zhao
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Correspondence to Xuejiang Wang.

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Responsible editor: Suresh Pillai

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Song, J., Wang, X., Bu, Y. et al. Preparation, characterization, and photocatalytic activity evaluation of Fe–N-codoped TiO2/fly ash cenospheres floating photocatalyst. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 22793–22802 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7353-2

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