Immobilization of TiO2 and Fe-C-TiO2 photocatalysts on the cotton material for application in a flow photocatalytic reactor for decomposition of phenol in water.

TiO2 and Fe-C-TiO2 photocatalysts have been immobilized on the cotton material and used in a flow photocatalytic reactor for phenol decomposition. The cotton material has been applied as a support for photocatalyst, because can be easily removed and replaced in a reactor, what facilitates the performance of the photocatalytic process. Fe-C-TiO2 photocatalyst has been prepared by modification of TiO2 fine particles of anatase structure with FeC2O4 through heating in Ar at 500 degrees C. The immobilized photocatalysts could efficiently decompose phenol in multiple use, Fe-C-TiO2 showed higher photocatalytic activity than TiO2, around 15-18 mg and 15-16 mg of phenol have been decomposed after 5 h of UV irradiation on Fe-C-TiO2 and TiO2, respectively. After addition of H2O2 the phenol decomposition and the mineralization degree have been accelerated, especially with immobilized Fe-C-TiO2 photocatalyst, in case of that the photo-Fenton reaction occurred. In the presence of H2O2 around 26-28 mg and 21-24 mg of phenol have been decomposed on Fe-C-TiO2 and TiO2 respectively, after 5 h of UV irradiation.