Zr/Cu-TiO[sub]2 catalysts for photocatalytic water treatment

dissertation

Olena Pliekhova (Author), Urška Lavrenčič Štangar (Mentor)

Abstract

This work entitled «Zr/Cu-TiO2 catalysts for photocatalytic water treatment» tackles a problem of tons of dyes discharged everyday mainly from textile industries. This is a huge concern because of dyes persistence, toxicity and potential to the bioaccumulation in living organisms. Here, a small contribution to overall problem is presented. The research work consists of three main parts: Theoretical background, Experimental and Results and discussion. In the Theoretical background chapter the overall problem is identified and discussed. The main water treatment techniques are presented briefly with their advantages and drawbacks. Photocatalysis assisted with TiO2 is shown as an alternative additional technique with its own pros and cons. Further, a cursory overview of TiO2 modification techniques is made and advantages in using copper and zirconium oxides for TiO2 modification are presented. The reason and possible positive effect of using of two oxides simultaneously for TiO2 modification is indicated. Additionally, a positive impact of solar light for overall rate of dyes degradation assisted with TiO2 is discussed. Within the framework of photosensitization effect, the problem of using dyes for assessment of photocatalytic properties of materials under the visible light is touched on. Photothermal methods as possible beneficial techniques for this purpose are proposed. In the Experimental chapter, all experimental techniques used in current research work with the technical details specific for the research work are presented. There are methods of materials preparation, photocatalytic tests under different conditions and varying model pollutants, and physico-chemical characterization techniques. The Results and discussion chapter is divided by three subchapters. Each chapter is dedicated to one hypothesis, which was checked and confirmed or disproved. The first hypothesis is about beneficial loading of copper and zirconium oxides to TiO2. After numerous experiments held, it was concluded that the pair of copper and zirconium oxides is beneficial for simultaneous application on TiO2 surface to promote its performance. The second subchapter is about zirconium distribution and its impact on the activity of studied materials towards the antraquinone dye Reactive Blue 19. Different techniques such as XRD, TEM, EXAFS and many others were used in order to characterize the materials and to understand the details of the processes taking place. The existence of upper limit of copper oxide loading for its beneficial effect on TiO2 performance was demonstrated. It was observed that zirconium species loading leads to improvement in performance of materials with higher copper loading, which otherwise lowers activity of TiO2 – this is in case when copper only above its optimal level is present. It was concluded that zirconium oxide containing species occupy rutile surface sites in mixed phase TiO2 and this way beneficially influence the material performance towards the dye removal. The third subchapter is about the visible light TiO2 assisted dye degradation. It is well known that photosensitization mechanism of dye degradation appears under the visible and as a consequence under the solar light irradiation. This leads to the overall enhancement of dyes degradation, which is positive and may be used as a benefit for faster pollutant destruction. However, this fact leads to mishmash in the determination of real photocatalytic activity of materials towards the dye. It was hypothesized that the impact of photosensitization mechanism on the overall material performance against Reactive blue 19 dye (RB19) descends with the dye concentration lowering. Thermal lens spectrometry (TLS) which is sensitive to chemicals at low concentrations was used for hypothesis evaluation. To summarize the research work achievements, the conclusions of the thesis are given at the end.

Keywords

titanium dioxide;photocatalysis;zirconium/copper;surface modification;water treatment;dyes;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2019
Typology:	2.08 - Doctoral Dissertation
Organization:	UNG FPŠ - Graduate School
Publisher:	[O. Pliekhova]
UDC:	544
COBISS:	5496059
Views:	4410
Downloads:	129
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary keywords:	titanov dioksid;fotokataliza;cirkonij;baker;modifikacija površine;čiščenje vode;barvila;disertacije;
URN:	URN:SI:UNG
Type (COBISS):	Doctoral dissertation
Thesis comment:	Univ. v Novi Gorici, Fak. za podiplomski študij
Pages:	XXIV, 124 str.
ID:	11316051