title: High performance sulfur, nitrogen and carbon doped mesoporous anatase-brookite TiO₂ photocatalyst for the removal of microcystin-LR under visible light irradiation.
abstract: Carbon, nitrogen and sulfur (C, N and S) doped mesoporous anatase-brookite nano-heterojunction titania photocatalysts have been synthesized through a simple sol-gel method in the presence of triblock copolymer Pluronic P123. XRD and Raman spectra revealed the formation of anatase and brookite mixed phases. XPS spectra indicated the presence of C, N and S dopants. The TEM images demonstrated the formation of almost monodisperse titania nanoparticles with particle sizes of approximately 10nm. N2 isotherm measurements confirmed that both doped and undoped titania anatase-brookite materials have mesoporous structure. The photocatalytic degradation of the cyanotoxin microcystin-LR (MC-LR) has been investigated using these novel nanomaterials under visible light illumination. The photocatalytic efficiency of the mesoporous titania anatase-brookite photocatalyst dramatically increased with the addition of the C, N and S non-metal, achieving complete degradation (∼ 100 %) of MC-LR. The results demonstrate the advantages of the synthetic approach and the great potential of the visible light activated C, N, and S doped titania photocatalysts for the treatment of organic micropollutants in contaminated waters under visible light.
authors.affiliation: Nanostructured Materials Lab., Advanced Materials Department, CMRDI, Cairo 11421, Egypt.
authors.forename: Said M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: El-Sheikh
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Science Program, Department of Biomedical, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, United States.
authors.forename: Geshan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Nanostructured Materials Lab., Advanced Materials Department, CMRDI, Cairo 11421, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hamza M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: El-Hosainy
authors.affiliation: Nanostructured Materials Lab., Advanced Materials Department, CMRDI, Cairo 11421, Egypt.
authors.forename: Adel A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, United States.
authors.forename: Kevin E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: O'Shea
authors.affiliation: Institute of Advanced Materials, Physicochemical Processes, Nanotechnology and Microsystems (IAMPPNM), National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Agia Paraskevi Attikis, 15310 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Polycarpos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Falaras
authors.affiliation: Institute of Advanced Materials, Physicochemical Processes, Nanotechnology and Microsystems (IAMPPNM), National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Agia Paraskevi Attikis, 15310 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Athanassios G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Kontos
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Science Program, Department of Biomedical, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, United States. Electronic address: dionysios.d.dionysiou@uc.edu.
authors.forename: Dionysios D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Dionysiou
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D008027:Light; D052998:Microcystins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D010782:Photolysis; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D052998:Microcystins; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; D013455:Sulfur; D002244:Carbon; D014025:Titanium; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Brookite–anatase heterojunction; Microcystin-LR; Non-metal doped; Photodegradation; Visible light; Water treatment.