Loading…

Enhancement in photocatalytic selectivity of TiO 2 -based nano-catalyst through molecular imprinting technology

Improvement in the photocatalytic selectivity is imperative for the effective and efficient utilization of catalysts. In this study, a molecularly imprinted polymer-coated iron-doped titanium dioxide (Fe-TiO @MIP) nanocomposite was successfully synthesized by precipitation polymerization while using...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science and pollution research international 2023-12, Vol.30 (58), p.121929
Main Authors: Wahab, Abdul, Minhas, Muhammad Ali, Shaikh, Huma, Xiao, Hua-Ming, Malik, Muhammad Imran
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Improvement in the photocatalytic selectivity is imperative for the effective and efficient utilization of catalysts. In this study, a molecularly imprinted polymer-coated iron-doped titanium dioxide (Fe-TiO @MIP) nanocomposite was successfully synthesized by precipitation polymerization while using RB-19 as a template. The synthesized nanocomposites (Fe-TiO @MIP and Fe-TiO @NIP) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer-EMMETT-Teller (BET), and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The optimized binding experiments revealed a high imprinting factor of 5.0 for RB-19. The catalytic degradation efficiency and selectivity of Fe-TiO @MIP enhanced to almost complete degradation of RB-19 from 70% for the parent Fe-TiO and 76% for Fe-TiO @NIP. An outstanding degradation selectivity of RB-19 was achieved compared to other competitive dyes. Finally, the analysis of the non-degraded and degraded RB-19 by ESI-MS revealed the presence of different intermediates that fits well with the proposed degradation mechanism. The study opens new possibilities of selective photo-degradation of targeted contaminants that may ultimately lead to efficient use of photocatalysts.
ISSN:1614-7499