Effect of Co-catalyst (CuO, CoO or NiO) on Bi2O3–TiO2 Structures and Its Impact on the Photocatalytic Reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Diana Guerrero-Araque, David Ramírez-Ortega, Héctor A. Calderon, José M. Saniger, Ricardo Gómez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

CoO, NiO or CuO oxides were employed as co-catalysts on Bi2O3–TiO2 (BT) structure in the photocatalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol under UV light irradiation. The intimate contact between the co-catalysts and base material contributed to an enhancement in the photocatalytic activity due to the formation of the p-n heterojunction that effectively separates charge carriers. CuO–BT, NiO–BT and Co–BT showed a reduction of 4-nitrophenol of 83%, 59% and 52% after 60 min under illumination, respectively, which are higher than that obtained with the BT semiconductor. The co-catalysts increase the donor density favoring the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. The donor density calculated for CuO–BT, NiO–BT and Co–BT was of Nd= 15.5 × 1018cm−3, Nd= 12.4 × 1018cm−3 and Nd= 9.41 × 1018cm−3, respectively. The results were associated to that CuO and NiO oxides are considered as reduction co-catalysts while CoO oxide is used as oxidation co-catalyst.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)112-120
Number of pages9
JournalTopics in Catalysis
Volume64
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2021

Keywords

  • 4-nitrophenol
  • Co-catalyst
  • Donor density
  • Photocatalytic reduction

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