Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol with Fe-Titania Catalysts

Iron titanate (FeTiO3) obtained from rich titanium and iron mineral presented some absorption of UV light and photocatalytic activity for the degradation of phenol in aqueous solution. However, most of the reactant is converted to carboxylic acids that remain in the reaction mixture because natural ilmenite do not produce enough HO• radicals to completely mineralize the original reactant at the same rate as pure titania (Degussa P25). The XRD analysis of Fe-titania catalysts prepared by simple mixing of FeTiO3 and TiO2 showed that the structure of TiO2 is not modified when small amounts of FeTiO3, in the order of 10% weight, are well mixed with pure titania. Therefore, the photocatalytic activity of these catalysts is not affected by the presence of FeTiO3. But, heavy ilmenite particles induce the separation of the catalysts particles after the photocatalytic degradation processes.