title: Photocatalytic degradation of 2-(4-methylphenoxy)ethanol over TiO2spheres.
abstract: The photocatalytic TiO2-assisted decomposition of 2-(4-methylphenoxy)ethanol (MPET) in aqueous solution has been studied for the first time. The intermediate compounds of MPET photodegradation have been also determined. A toxic p-cresol is formed in significant quantities during the photocatalytic reaction. A solvent-exchange approach for a template-free preparation of spherical TiO2particles has been described, which is based solely on precipitation of hydrous titania from aqueous titanium peroxo complex by using organic solvents. The proposed method favours the formation of spherical titania particles with a mean size varying from 50 to 260nm depending on the choice of solvent. The procedure for converting nonporous titania spheres into mesoporous material maintaining the same spherical morphology has been developed. The synthesized TiO2spheres demonstrate a degree of MPET photo-degradation close to that of the commercial titania Aeroxide P25, besides being successfully recovered and reused for four reaction cycles without loss of photocatalytic activity. The effectiveness of the commercial Aeroxide P25 in MPET photodegradation, on the other hand, suffers 10-time drop during the third reaction cycle, which is attributed to its poor recoverability because the photocatalyst is composed of small particles of 20nm size.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, University of Oviedo-CINN, 33006, Oviedo, Spain; Nanotechnology Education and Research Center, South Ural State University, 454080, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilkaeva
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, University of Oviedo-CINN, 33006, Oviedo, Spain; Nanotechnology Education and Research Center, South Ural State University, 454080, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Electronic address: uo247495@uniovi.es.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Krivtsov
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, 33006, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Oviedo, Campus Universitario, 33203 Gijón, Spain.
authors.forename: Zakariae
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Amghouz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, 33006, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Patiño
authors.affiliation: Scientific Technical Services, University of Oviedo, 33006, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khainakov
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, University of Oviedo-CINN, 33006, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: José R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: García
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, 33006, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ordóñez
keywords: Anatase-based photocatalysts; Emerging pollutants; Micropollutants; Titanium peroxo complex