Vanadium-modified titania-supported CuO-Fe2O3 systems and their efficiency in the Fenton-like degradation of phenol

• Published in: Desalination and water treatment 2022-04, Vol.256, p.89-98
• Main Authors: Ghanem, Rania, Yousef, Yaser, Hammoudeh, Ayman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalysis; Degradation; Fenton; Iron(III) oxide; Irradiation; Phenol; Pollution; Titanium(IV) oxide
• ISSN: 1944-3986
• DOI: 10.5004/dwt.2022.28364

A sol–gel method was adopted to prepare a series of titania-supported CuO-Fe2O3 systems modified by vanadium in various proportions (V2O5% ranging from 0%–25%). X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the pure TiO2 system consists almost entirely of the anatase phase whereas all other titania supported systems are dominated by the rutile phase; small amounts of pseudobrookite (Fe2TiO5) and monoclinic CuO could also be identified. The former suggests the incorporation of Fe3+ in the TiO2 lattice. In the case of the vanadium most-rich system in this work (25% V2O5), several extra diffraction features appear which could be attributed to the formation of various Cu(II) divanadate phases, the presence of which was also supported by infrared spectroscopy. Diffuse reflectance UV-Vis measurements were used to determine the band gap energies which lied in the range 1.86 eV–3.29 eV. Best performance in degrading phenol pollutant has been observed for the Fe2O3·CuO/TiO2 system containing no vanadium, where almost total mineralization has been achieved. The catalytic performance was strongly enhanced by irradiation by a 23 W fluorescent lamp. Irradiation was also found to enhance the catalytic efficiency of the vanadium containing catalysts. The catalytic behavior was however suppressed by increased vanadium percentage, apparently due to the formation of vanadate phases.