Simultaneous reduction of Cr (VI) and degradation of azo dyes by F-Fe-codoped TiO2/SiO2 photocatalysts under visible and solar irradiation

A new TiO2/SiO2 photocatalyst codoped with fluorine and iron was synthesized using sol-gel process and immobilized onto glass beads using coupling two methods of dip-coating and heat attachment. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, DRS-UV/Vis, FESEM, EDX, TEM and N2 Adsorption/Desorption analysis. The effective parameters of pH, flow rate and photoreactor vesselsâ angle against solar irradiation on degradation performance were optimized. Subsequently, the photocatalytic activity of the prepared nanocomposites was investigated in an innovative fabricated photoreactor using a four-component pollutant mixture of Cr (VI), basic red 29, basic blue 41 and basic yellow 51, under visible and solar irradiation. Furthermore, the effectiveness of photoreactor performance was assessed under various outdoor climate conditions as natural irradiation source. Consequently, UV/Vis spectrophotometry results showed significant efficiency of photocatalytic removal of the pollutants mixture. TOC results of 74.39% and 78.04% for removal of organic content of the sample under visible and solar light, respectively, were also confirmed the great capability of the designed system for the simultaneous removal of some hazardous inorganic and organic contaminants under natural light sources.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author