Evaluation of copper-doped TiO2 film supported on glass and LDPE with the design of a pilot-scale solar photoreactor. (15th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pava-Gómez, Beatriz; Vargas-Ramírez, Ximena; Díaz-Uribe, Carlos; Romero, Hailer; Duran, Freider
• Is Part Of: Solar energy. Volume 220(2021)
• Page Start: 695
• Page End: 705
• Publication Date: 2021-05-15
• Subjects: Solar photoreactor -- Copper-doped TiO2 -- Glass supported TiO2 -- LDPE supported TiO2; Solar energy -- Periodicals; Solar engines -- Periodicals; 621.47
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2021.03.071
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-092X

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Cu doped and Undoped TiO2 supported were evaluated in solar pilot photo-reactor. Cu doped TiO2 had a band gap of 2.34 eV and higher absorption of visible radiation. Cu doped TiO2 is mainly anatase but have 17.6% rutile phase. The liquid phase suspension technique makes better dispersion of photocatalyst. Doped TiO2 on LDPE support showed higher stability after reuse. Abstract: Synthesis of copper-doped TiO2 (Cu:TiO2 ) and undoped TiO2 were performed by the sol–gel method. These photocatalysts were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, XRD, and diffuse reflectance. The synthesized catalysts were fixed on glass by the Doctor Blade technique, and on low-density polyethylene (LDPE) by the liquid phase suspension method. The films were characterized by SEM-EDX. The use of doped and undoped photocatalysts fixed in two types of substrates was evaluated in a pilot scale photoreactor under solar radiation. The photoreactor consisted of a simple model designed based on the use of photocatalysts fixed on flat substrates. The adsorption, photodegradation and photolysis processes of methylene blue (MB) were evaluated separately in order to define the extent to which the photocatalyst degraded. The pilot scale system, with the method of fixing the catalyst on a glass substrate, degraded 72.8% of the dye in 6 h, studied under the Langmuir Hinshelwood pseudo-first-order mathematical model with a constant of 0.0024 min −1 . With the method of fixing the catalyst on an LDPE substrate, it degraded 68.1% in 6 h, following the same mathematical model, with a constant of 0.0021 min −1 .