1. Influence of aggregate size on photoactivity of N-doped TiO2 particles in aqueous suspensions under visible light irradiation
- Author
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Wanda Navarra, Vincenzo Venditto, Christophe Daniel, Diana Sannino, Olga Sacco, and Vincenzo Vaiano
- Subjects
General Chemical Engineering ,Inorganic chemistry ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Nanoparticle ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,Dispersant ,Physics and Astronomy (all) ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Adsorption ,Phase (matter) ,N-doped TiO2 ,Chemical Engineering (all) ,Organic dispersing agent ,Aggregates size ,Photocatalytic activity ,Visible light ,Chemistry (all) ,Aqueous solution ,Chemistry ,General Chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,0104 chemical sciences ,Chemical engineering ,Photocatalysis ,0210 nano-technology ,Methylene blue ,Visible spectrum - Abstract
This work is focused on the study of the correlation between the photocatalytic activity of N-doped TiO2 particles, achieved by a designed synthesis, and their degree of aggregation in aqueous suspension. N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst particles, suspended in bidistilled water, presented a trimodal (in the nano-micro metric range) aggregate size distribution. This distribution resulted monomodal, in the nanometric range, when in the aqueous solution was added an organic dispersing agent (azulene). This behavior was associated to the presence, on the N-doped TiO2 particle surfaces, of an organic phase which was detected by thermal and infrared analysis. This organic phase was assumed to have a stabilizing function for nanoparticles. The influence of aggregate size of N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst on the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue has been studied. The aggregate size distribution of photocatalyst influenced the amount of methylene blue adsorbed on catalyst surface and increased the photocatalytic activity. The influence of operating parameters such as the amount of dispersing agent and the amount of photocatalyst in aqueous suspensions has also been examined.
- Published
- 2017