Activated carbons with adsorbed cations as photocatalysts for pollutants degradation in aqueous medium

• DOI: 10.1007/s10450-018-00006-0
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02T11:49:30Z
• Authors: V. Sydorchuk; O. I. Poddubnaya; M. M. Tsyba; O. Zakutevskyy; O. Khyzhun; S. Khalameida; A. M. Puziy
• Keywords: Rhodamine B; Photodegradation; Methyl orange; Visible spectrum; Methyl violet; Methyl red

Oxidized activated carbon (AC) based on commercial coconut-shell carbon Aquacarb 607C has been prepared. This AC has micro-mesoporous structure and contains surface carboxyl and phenol/enol groups. Cu- and Co-containing ACs have been synthesized via ion-exchange in acid medium. According to potentiometric titration and XPS data, cation-exchanged forms of AC contain about 0.5% of metal ions. Such cation-containing ACs possess narrowed band gap compared oxidized AC as it is observed for doped oxides. Oxidized and cation-containing ACs have been tested as catalysts in photodegradation of dyes and phenol under UV- and visible irradiation. Initial oxidized AC is photoactive toward rhodamine B and methyl orange under UV illumination but inactive under visible light. For the first time it is shown that cation-exchanged forms of AC have enhanced activity towards rhodamine B, methyl orange and phenol in both UV and visible region. Therefore, the principal possibility of improving the photocatalytic properties of AC by introducing a minimal amount of copper and cobalt cations is shown.