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In this work, we present the synthesis of TiO 2 photocatalysts modified with different % mol of tin using the sol-gel method. The materials were characterized using different analytical techniques. The Rietveld refinement, XPS, Raman and UV-Vis techniques confirm the substitution of tin in the TiO 2 structural lattice due to changes in crystal lattice parameters, the low-energy shift of the Sn 3d 5/2 orbital, generation of oxygen vacancies and the decreased band gap and increased BET surface area. The material with 1 mol% tin shows superior catalytic activity compared to the references for the degradation of 40 ppm 4-chlorophenol (3 hours of reaction) and 50 ppm phenol (6 hours of reaction). Reactions fit pseudo first order kinetics in both instances. The increase in photodegradation efficiency was attributed to the generation of energy levels below the TiO 2 conduction band caused by the incorporation of 1% mol of tin, oxygen vacancies, and the heterojunction formed between the brookite-anatase-rutile, causing inhibition of the recombination of the electron (e - ) and hole (h + ) photogenerated species. The easy synthesis, low cost and increased photodegradation efficiency of the photocatalyst with 1 mol% tin have the potential to favor the remediation of recalcitrant compounds in water., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

In this work the effect of noble metal on the photodegradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicide using TiO 2 as support was studied. The metals and concentration were: Rh, Ru, Pt and Au and 1, 0.98, 1.89, and 1.91 wt% respectively. Rhodium was taken as reference for this experiment. The samples were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), UV-vis absorption spectra, N 2 physisorption (BET Specific Surface Area), High Annular Angle Analysis Darkfield (HAADF) and Transmission Electron Microscopy Scanning (STEM), H 2 chemisorption, optical emission spectroscopy with inductive coupling plasma analysis (ICP-OES), solid fluorescence, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and OH quantification. The presence of the anatase crystalline phase was mostly confirmed in all samples. The band gap decreased with the presence of metal (from 3.24 to 2.92 eV). The specific area was a function of the metal particle size. The metal particle diameter showed the following sequence Pt > Ru > Au > Rh. By XPS, TiO 2 does not manifest changes in oxidation states, but when impregnated with metals, only Pt shows the highest abundance of any oxidized state (Pt 2+ ). The presence of metal reveals less electron-hole recombination compared with titanium oxide. The results of photocatalytic activity showed that Pt and Rh are the two metals with the highest mineralization (99.0 and 98.3%, respectively)., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)