Enhanced activity and reusability of TiO2 loaded magnetic activated carbon for solar photocatalytic ozonation

Abstract

Magnetically separable photocatalysts with high activity under solar illumination were successfully synthesized from a commercial meso-to-microporous activated carbon. First magnetite and then titania (anatase) were deposited onto the activated carbon support by impregnation and sol–gel methods, respectively. Various catalyst samples were prepared with different iron and titania contents. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized by nitrogen adsorption, XRD, SEM, EDX, XPS and SQUID magnetometer. Photocatalytic performance of some selected samples was examined under various irradiation conditions in the wavelength ranges of 300–800nm, 320–800nm and 390–800nm. Metoprolol tartrate (MTP) in aqueous solution (50mgL−1) was chosen as target compound for catalytic activity tests. The most efficient catalyst had TiO2 and Fe mass compositions of 64wt% and 9wt%, respectively. It showed high activity in photocatalytic ozonation with complete removal of MTP in less than 2h reaction time and 85% mineralization after 5h. This catalyst was also easily separable due to its developed magnetic properties. Catalyst reusability and stability was proved to be rather good after completing a series of 10 consecutive photocatalytic ozonation runs.