Photocatalytic reduction of heavy metal ions on derivatized titanium dioxide nano-particle surface studied by XAFS

Lin X. Chen, Tijana Rajh, Olga Mićić, Zhiyu Wang, David M. Tiede, Marion Thurnauer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Photoreduction of heavy metal ions, Cu2+ and Hg2+, on TiO2 nano-particle surfaces, has been investigated by XAFS measurements. The effects of TiO2 surface modification reagents on the reaction efficiency have been studied. We observed a significant reaction efficiency enhancement when amino acid alanine was added to a mixture of 0.01 M Cu2+ and TiO2 nano-particles. Fifty percent of the adsorbed Cu2+ has been reduced to Cu0 after 1-h illumination with a UV-enhanced xenon lamp. Photoreduction of Hg2+ on TiO2 colloid surfaces was also investigated without and with thiolactic acid (TLA). In this case, the photoreduction efficiency for Hg2+ was lowered. Structures of metal ion surroundings in various complexes as well as their role in photoreduction of metal ions are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)8-14
Number of pages7
JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume133
Issue number1-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2 1997
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Instrumentation

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