TiO2 nanotubes on titanium sponges as new supported photocatalysts for Cr(VI) removal

A. DWOJAK; H.D. TRAID; E.C. BUCHARSKY; S. SUVOTIC; G. KALLIEN; K.G. SCHELL; M.I. LITTER

Conferencia; 6th Iberoamerican Conference on Advanced Oxidation Technologies CIPOA; 2024

TiO2 nanoparticles are one of the most widely used materials in heterogeneous photocatalysis for water decontamination. One of the main limitations of the development of practical systems based on this technology is the costly stage of separation and recovery of the powdered photocatalyst. A feasible solution is the synthesis of nanostructured TiO2 coatings and one of the simplest and cheapest techniques to synthesize TiO2 coatings is the anodic oxidation of titanium (Ti). To prevent an excessive loss of surface area due to immobilization, commercial Ti sponges with a high surface area were selected as substrates for the anodic synthesis of TiO2 nanotubes. The coatings were characterized and their activity as photocatalysts was evaluated using Cr(VI) in the presence of EDTA. These photocatalysts are promising for their application in packed-bed photoreactors.