Oxygen Deficiency Induction and Boundary Layer Modulation for Improved Adsorption Performance of Titania Nanoparticles
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Date
2022-02-28
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Springer
Abstract
The use of titania (TiO2) nanoparticles as adsorbents for the adsorption of organic pollutants has attracted the attention of researchers over the years due to their stability, innocuousness, and economic cost. However, their adsorption performance has been limited, and various strategies are being explored to improve this. Herein, we demonstrated the induction of oxygen deficiency and modulation of the boundary layer of TiO2 through high-temperature treatment as a strategy for enhancing its adsorption performance. The high-temperature-treated samples denoted that HT-TiO2 was prepared by subjecting commercial Degussa P25 TiO2 to calcination at 700 ℃ for 2 h. Pristine samples designated Pr-TiO2 was utilized for comparison. The morphology, crystallinity, bulk elemental composition, and surface area of the samples were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), electron diffraction spectroscopy (EDS), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), respectively. Except for the morphology and porosity (obtained from nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm), both samples displayed varying characteristics. Experimental results reveal better adsorption performance of metronidazole (MNZ) on HT-TiO2 (qmax = 25.6937 mg/g) compared to Pr-TiO2 (qmax = 17.9856 mg/g). This phenomenon is attributed to oxygen deficiency and a smaller boundary layer on HT-TiO2 deduced from the EDS and intraparticle diffusion model.
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Titanium Dioxide, Nanomaterials, Adsorption, Metronidazole