TY - JOUR
T1 - Three-phase nanocomposites of two nanoclays and TiO2
T2 - Synthesis, characterization and photacatalytic activities
AU - Papoulis, Dimitrios
AU - Komarneni, Sridhar
AU - Panagiotaras, Dionisios
AU - Stathatos, Elias
AU - Christoforidis, Konstantinos C.
AU - Fernández-García, Marcos
AU - Li, Huihui
AU - Shu, Yin
AU - Sato, Tsugio
AU - Katsuki, Hiroaki
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the European Union (Lead Market European Research Area Network—LEAD ERA) and the Regional Authority of Western Greece under the project ″Development and manufacturing of a new innovative nanotechnology-based decontaminant construction material for indoor building—INDOOR ECOPAVING″. The project is co-funded by the European Union—European Regional Development Fund and National Resources ( NSRF 2007-2013 ). Also the authors wish to thank Dr. V. Drakopoulos of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes (ICE/HT) Rio-Patras, Greece , for his help with SEM images. Dr. K. C. Christoforidis acknowledges Marie Curie Action—Intra-European Fellowship ( FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF-253445 ) for financial support.
PY - 2014/4/5
Y1 - 2014/4/5
N2 - For the first time two different nanoclay minerals were combined with nanophase anatase for the synthesis of three-phase nanocomposites with improved photocatalytic properties. The novel halloysite (H)+palygorskite (Pal)-TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared using palygorskite and halloysite from Greece. Three nanocomposites were synthesized using [Hal+Pal] to TiO2 mass ratios of [10+20]:70, [15+15]:70 and [20+10]:70, respectively by depositing anatase form of TiO2 on the clay surfaces using titanium isopropoxide as a precursor under hydrothermal treatment at 180°C. Phase composition, particle morphology and physical properties of these three-phase nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, ATR-FTIR, SEM, TEM, DR-UV-Vis, N2-adsorption/desorption isotherms. The photocatalytic activities of three-phase clay-titania nanocomposites in decomposing NOx gas and toluene vapor were determined. The three-phase clay-titania nanocomposites showed significantly higher photocatalytic activity in decomposing inorganic and organic pollutants compared to that of either palygorskite- or halloysite-TiO2 nanocomposites under both UV- and visible-light irradiation. These studies led to a new class of clay-based nanocomposite materials with advanced photocatalytic properties.
AB - For the first time two different nanoclay minerals were combined with nanophase anatase for the synthesis of three-phase nanocomposites with improved photocatalytic properties. The novel halloysite (H)+palygorskite (Pal)-TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared using palygorskite and halloysite from Greece. Three nanocomposites were synthesized using [Hal+Pal] to TiO2 mass ratios of [10+20]:70, [15+15]:70 and [20+10]:70, respectively by depositing anatase form of TiO2 on the clay surfaces using titanium isopropoxide as a precursor under hydrothermal treatment at 180°C. Phase composition, particle morphology and physical properties of these three-phase nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, ATR-FTIR, SEM, TEM, DR-UV-Vis, N2-adsorption/desorption isotherms. The photocatalytic activities of three-phase clay-titania nanocomposites in decomposing NOx gas and toluene vapor were determined. The three-phase clay-titania nanocomposites showed significantly higher photocatalytic activity in decomposing inorganic and organic pollutants compared to that of either palygorskite- or halloysite-TiO2 nanocomposites under both UV- and visible-light irradiation. These studies led to a new class of clay-based nanocomposite materials with advanced photocatalytic properties.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2013.09.025
DO - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2013.09.025
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84885704064
SN - 0926-3373
VL - 147
SP - 526
EP - 533
JO - Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
JF - Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
ER -