Titanium Dioxide-Based Photocatalysts for the Conversion of Water Pollutants

摘要

Heterogeneous photocatalytic processes have been gaining increasing commercial interest worldwide mostly in the fields of environmental cleanup and energy. In particular, photocatalytic water treatment is considered a cost-effective and environmentally benign technology enabling the destruction of a great variety of hazardous emerging pollutants. One of the most challenging topics in heterogeneous photocatalysis is the development of efficient catalysts working under solar light irradiation. Titanium dioxide (TiO2), the benchmark catalyst for this type of applications, requires UV-light excitation, which only accounts for 5% of the incoming solar energy. Loading TiO2 with carbon materials and/or noble metal nanoparticles are effective techniques used to increase the photonic efficiency and to extend light absorption of TiO2 towards the visible spectral range. In this chapter, we will describe some of our recent results on the development of TiO2-based photocatalysts, namely TiO2-activated carbon fiber composites and gold-loaded TiO2, for the degradation of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in water.