Photodegradation of aqueous bisphenol A using boric acid-doped titanium dioxide

Abstract

A high-photoactivity boric acid-doped titanium dioxide (B-doped TiO2) photocatalyst of the degradation of aqueous bisphenol A (BPA) under sunlight was synthesized and characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance. The band gap energies of TiO2 and B-doped TiO2 (B/Ti mole ratio = 0.2%) were 3.01 and 2.98, showing that B-doped TiO2 could narrow the band gap of pure TiO2. In the photocatalytic kinetics of the photodegradation, the BPA photodegradation rate constants were 1.67 and 1.08 h−1, respectively. The BPA removal rate satisfies pseudo-first-order kinetics. Results showed that photocatalysts doped with boron displayed greater photodegradation (88% BPA removal) than pure TiO2 (65% BPA removal). Experimental results indicated that B-doped TiO2 not only was an effective photocatalyst, but also had considerable mineralization effects. The recycling test revealed that the photocatalyst remained effective after 10 uses, revealing the stability and reusability.