The hybrid photocatalyst of TiO2–SiO2 thin film prepared from rice husk silica

The TiO₂–SiO₂ thin film was prepared by self-assembly method by mixing SiO₂ precursor with titanium precursor solution and aged to obtain a co-precipitation of silica and titanium crystals. Dip coating method was applied for thin film preparation on glass slide. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the self-assembly thin film had no characteristic property of SiO₂ and even anatase TiO₂ but indicated new crystal structure which was determined from the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) as a hybridized Ti–O–Si bonding. The surface area and surface volume of the self-assembly sample were increased when SiO₂ was incorporated into the film. The self-assembly TiO₂–SiO₂ thin film exhibited the enhanced photocatalytic decolorization of methylene blue (MB) dye. The advantages of SiO₂ are; (1) to increase the adsorbability of the film and (2) to provide the hydroxyl radical to promote the photocatalytic reaction. The self-assembly thin film with the optimum molar ratio (SiO₂:TiO₂) as 20:80 gave the best performance for photocatalytic decolorization of MB dye with the overall efficiency of 81%.     

Characteristics and performance of M-doped cerium zirconium mixed oxide nanosized catalysts (M = Zn, Sn) in CO oxidation

Nanosized Ce_0.7Zr_0.3M_x oxide particles (M=Zn, Sn, x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) with 10–20 nm diameter were synthesized by a coprecipitation method. Their structure and morphology were characterized by XRD, FT-Raman and TEM. Zn did not incorporate well into Ce_0.7Zr_0.3 oxide, but Sn did. The catalytic performance of these particles for CO oxidation was investigated between 150–400°C under severe conditions. Ce_0.7Zr_0.3Sn_0.5 had the best performance with the lowest light-off temperature range (175–210°C). A temperature hysteresis was observed in all catalysts studied.     

Sonophotocatalytic activity of methyl orange over Fe(III)/TiO2

TiO₂ doped with Fe³⁺ was prepared by an impregnation technique and its sonophotocatalytic activity over methyl orange (MO) was investigated. The Fe/TiO₂ surface presented red shift to longer wavelength, resulting in a lower energy band gap. Fe loading of 0.1 wt% on TiO₂ provided the optimum degradation. The MO degradation rate constant under sonophotocatalytic conditions was 2.5 times higher than under photocatalytic conditions.     

Photocatalytic degradation of BTEX using W-doped TiO2 immobilized on fiberglass cloth under visible light

W-doped TiO₂ were immobilized on fiberglass cloth (FGC). The catalyst possessed small crystallite sizes with a red-shift on an absorption edge. Good dispersion was observed over the immobilized catalyst. The photocatalytic degradation of gaseous BTEX was conducted in a flow reactor under day-light fluorescent. Parameters including gas flowrate, catalyst loading, initial concentration and relative humidity (%RH) were investigated. The prepared catalysts showed higher efficiency than that of TiO₂ approximately 18, 3, 3 and 2.5× for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene, respectively. The condition to achieve 100% BTEX removal was found at 20 min/ml, catalyst loading 0.1 mg/cm² and 30% RH.