Enhanced photocatalytic activity of porous TiO 2 containing C/P/K derived from grapefruit peel

• Published in: RSC advances 2024-05, Vol.14 (22), p.15604-15618
• Main Authors: Wu, Ruixiang, Liu, Wenhua, Bai, Renao, Tian, Xiufang, Lin, Weikai, Li, Lejian, Ke, Qianwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/D4RA02180K

Grapefruit peel possesses a porous structure and a significant specific surface area. In this study, we introduce an innovative and eco-friendly approach for synthesizing porous TiO . This was accomplished by employing grapefruit peel as a bio-template and tetrabutyl titanate as the precursor, utilizing a two-step rotary impregnation-calcination process. The TiO faithfully reproduced the structural characteristics of the grapefruit peel across different scales, simultaneously incorporating C, P, K elements from the original grapefruit peel into the final samples. The fabricated samples were analyzed using XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, BET, and UV-vis DRS. The results showed that the TiO displays an anatase phase, and possesses a high specific surface area. The investigation of photocatalytic performance demonstrated that the CPK-TiO -10 sample exhibited outstanding photocatalytic activity against Rhodamine B (RhB) solution, achieving complete degradation within 60 minutes. Additionally, the total organic carbon (TOC) removal rate reached 91.34% after 60 minutes of irradiation. The sample maintained a high degradation efficiency, even after five recycling cycles. This exceptional performance can be attributed to its porous structure, enriched with pores and a larger surface area, as well as the beneficial effects of doping with C, P, K elements in TiO .