Enhancement of nano titanium dioxide coatings by fullerene and polyhydroxy fullerene in the photocatalytic degradation of the herbicide mesotrione

Abstract The surface modification of commercial TiO 2 Hombikat (TiO 2 ) using nanoparticles of fullerene C 60 with tetrahydrofuran (THF-nC 60 ), as well as fullerenol C 60 (OH) 24 nanoparticles (FNP) was investigated in this study. Characterization of THF-nC 60 , FNP, TiO 2 , TiO 2 /THF-nC 60 , and TiO 2 /FNP was studied by using DES, ELS, TEM, SEM, DRS and BET measurements and their photoactivity has been examined on the mesotrione degradation under simulated sunlight. It was found that FNP in self-assembled nanocomposite TiO 2 /FNP increased negatively charge, as well as catalytic surface of TiO 2 . In addition, TiO 2 /FNP exhibits a shift of band gap energy to lower values compared to TiO 2 and TiO 2 /THF-nC 60 . BET surface area has not showed significant differences among catalysts. Furthermore, it was found that the highest photoactivity was obtained for TiO 2 /FNP system. Besides, influence of different concentrations of electron acceptors (H 2 O 2 and KBrO 3 ), as well as scavengers on the kinetics of mesotrione removal in aqueous solution with/without TiO 2 and FNP under simulated sunlight was investigated. Namely, addition of mentioned electron acceptors has resulted in higher mesotrione degradation efficiency compared to O 2 alone. Besides, in the first period substrate degradation probably takes place via hydroxyl radicals and after 60 min of irradiation the reaction mechanism proceeds mainly via holes. The most efficient system for mesotrione degradation and mineralization were TiO 2 /7 mM KBrO 3 and TiO 2 /7 mM KBrO 3 /40 μl FNP, respectively.