Study of the visible light activity of Pt and Au-TiO2 photocatalysts in organic pollutants degradation

Pt-TiO and Au-TiO photocatalysts were prepared by noble metal photodeposition on sulfated TiO. It was observed that optical absorption, oxidation state and particle size of the metallic species (Pt or Au) play an important role in the TiO photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation. Photocatalytic activity of the bare TiO powder in the phenol and methyl orange degradation increased with the sulfation and metal addition. The highest degradation rate under UV-Visible and visible light irradiation was obtained on Pt-S-TiO photocatalyst; this is mainly due to the optical properties of TiO induced by platinization and also to the good distribution and low Pt particles size. It was also found that this catalyst has a good stability after two cycles of reaction in the phenol photodegradation under UV-Visible light irradiation. The Pt-S-TiO photocatalyst was also active under solar light and under the environmental conditions of the city of Tunja (Boyacá), Colombia