Adsorption and degradation of 2-chlorophenol by TiO₂/AC and TiO₂/CB in photocatalytic process

In this work, carbonaceous materials including activated carbon (AC) and carbon black (CB) were used in an enhancement the adsorption capacity of TiO₂ particles. The carbon supported TiO₂ composite materials denoted as TiO₂/AC and TiO₂/CB were prepared by sol-gel method and used in photocatalytic process of 2-chlorophenol in aqueous solution. Results reveal that both AC and CB can increase adsorption capacity of TiO₂ while AC provided highest adsorption of 2-chlorophenol on its surface. Adsorption isotherms for both materials were well explained by Freundlich equation representing a multilayer of 2-chlorophenol adsorbed on titanium dioxide surface. During the irradiation, TiO₂/CB exerted highest removal efficiency and initial reaction rate in 2-chlorophenol degradation among three types of catalysts, TiO₂/CB, TiO₂/AC and TiO₂. The mineralization of 2-chlorophenol was achieved within 200 min for both TiO₂/AC and TiO₂/CB catalysts.