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American Chemical Society, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 35(7), p. 19726-19735, 2015

DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b05263

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Dual-Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Fe-Deposited Titanate Nanotubes Used for Simultaneous Removal of As(III) and As(V)

Journal article published in 2015 by Wen Liu ORCID, Xiao Zhao, Alistair G. L. Borthwick, Yanqi Wang, Jinren Ni
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

Fe-deposited titanate nanotubes (Fe-TNTs) with high photocatalytic activity and adsorptive performance were synthesized through a one-step hydrothermal method. Initial As(III) oxidation followed by As(V) adsorption by Fe-TNTs could simultaneously remove these two toxic pollutants from aqueous solutions. The apparent rate constant value for photo-oxidation of As(III) under UV irradiation by Fe-TNTs was almost 250 times that of unmoidified TNTs. Under visible light, the Fe-TNTs also exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity after Fe was deposited. Fe3+ located in the interlayers of TNTs acted as temporary electron- or hole-trapping sites, and attached α-Fe2O3 played the role of a charge carrier for electrons transferred from TNTs. These two effects inhibited electron–hole pair recombination thus promoting photocatalysis. Moreover, the As(V) adsorptive performance of Fe-TNTs also improved, owing to the presence of additional adsorption sites, α-Fe2O3, as well as increased pHPZC. Furthermore, Fe-TNTs exhibited good photocatalytic and adsorptive performace even after 5 reuse cycles. The present tests, concerning an initial As(III) photocatalysis and subsequent As(V) adsorption process, highlight the feasibility and importance of Fe used to modify TNTs. This study proposes a feasible method to simultaneously remove As(III) and As(V) from contaminated water using a novel Ti-based nanomaterial.