Improving carbon coated TiO2 films with a TiCl4 treatment for photocatalytic water purification

Using a simple thermal decomposition route, carbon-TiO2 hybrid films have been synthesized from a catechol-TiO2 surface complex. The coated films display enhanced visible region absorption, owing to the thin (~2 nm) layer of carbon encapsulating the TiO2. While photocatalytically active under visible light alone, it is demonstrated that the activity of the carbon coated films can be improved further by a hydrolytic treatment with TiCl4, leading to the introduction of small TiO2 particles (5-10nm) and doping of chlorine into the structure. The combination of the carbon layer and TiCl4 treatment gives increased photocatalytic performance for the photodegradation of dyes, phenolic pollutants and the reduction of toxic Cr(VI) to relatively benign Cr(III). In addition, the carbon coated films show improved bactericidal activity under UV irradiation, and hence have been successfully tested against the most common types of pollutant present in potential drinking waters

Sequential Ionic Layer Adsorption Reaction Formation of LaVO4-TiO2 Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic Water Treatment

Lanthanum Vanadate (LaVO4) has been successfully deposited as a thin conformal layer onto the surface of P25 TiO2 particles immobilized on the surface of macroscopic glass beads. Using a simple sequential ionic layer adsorption reaction (SILAR) method, the LaVO4 layer is deposited in situ with good control over the loading. Both the prepared composites and individual LaVO4 and TiO2 materials have been thoroughly characterized by x-ray diffraction, electron microscopies, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The coated bead samples have been applied in the photocatalytic degradation of the model organic pollutant 4-chlorophenol, with the optimal LaVO4 loading displaying ~3x higher degradation of the pollutant than the pristine P25 sample. Using electrochemical and spectroscopic methods, band energies for both materials and the composite have been determined, and a provisional mechanism for degradation proposed upon the basis of this band alignment and upon scavenging experiments. ## .dat files ## Please note, files with the filename extension '.dat' are SEM EDX data files. They are opened in the instruments' software, called Oxford Instruments Aztec.Odling, Gylen. (2020). Sequential Ionic Layer Adsorption Reaction Formation of LaVO4-TiO2 Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic Water Treatment, [dataset]. University of Edinburgh. School of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.7488/ds/2810