Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid

Lijie Duan; Bo Wang; Kimberly N. Heck; Chelsea A. Clark; Jinshan Wei; Minghao Wang; Jordin Metz; Gang Wu; Ah Lim Tsai; Sujin Guo; Jacob Arredondo; Aditya D. Mohite; Thomas P. Senftle; Paul Westerhoff; Pedro Alvarez; Xianghua Wen; Yonghui Song; Michael S. Wong

doi:10.1016/j.cej.2022.137735

Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid

Lijie Duan, Bo Wang, Kimberly N. Heck, Chelsea A. Clark, Jinshan Wei, Minghao Wang, Jordin Metz, Gang Wu, Ah Lim Tsai, Sujin Guo, Jacob Arredondo, Aditya D. Mohite, Thomas P. Senftle, Paul Westerhoff, Pedro Alvarez, Xianghua Wen, Yonghui Song, Michael S. Wong

Engineering, Ira A. Fulton Schools of (IAFSE)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

Boron nitride (BN) has the newly-found property of degrading recalcitrant polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under ultraviolet C (UV-C, 254 nm) irradiation. It is ineffective at longer wavelengths, though. In this study, we report the simple calcination of BN and UV-A active titanium oxide (TiO₂) creates a BN/TiO₂ composite that is more photocatalytically active than BN or TiO₂ under UV-A for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Under UV-A, BN/TiO₂ degraded PFOA ∼ 15 × faster than TiO₂, while BN was inactive. Band diagram analysis and photocurrent response measurements indicated that BN/TiO₂ is a type-II heterojunction semiconductor, facilitating charge carrier separation. Additional experiments confirmed the importance of photogenerated holes for degrading PFOA. Outdoor experimentation under natural sunlight found BN/TiO₂ to degrade PFOA in deionized water and salt-containing water with a half-life of 1.7 h and 4.5 h, respectively. These identified photocatalytic properties of BN/TiO₂ highlight the potential for the light-driven destruction of other PFAS.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	137735
Journal	Chemical Engineering Journal
Volume	448
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.137735
State	Published - Nov 15 2022

Keywords

Boron nitride
Composite catalyst
PFAS
PFOA
Photocatalysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
Environmental Chemistry
General Chemical Engineering
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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Duan, L., Wang, B., Heck, K. N., Clark, C. A., Wei, J., Wang, M., Metz, J., Wu, G., Tsai, A. L., Guo, S., Arredondo, J., Mohite, A. D., Senftle, T. P., Westerhoff, P., Alvarez, P., Wen, X., Song, Y., & Wong, M. S. (2022). Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid. Chemical Engineering Journal, 448, Article 137735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.137735

Duan, L, Wang, B, Heck, KN, Clark, CA, Wei, J, Wang, M, Metz, J, Wu, G, Tsai, AL, Guo, S, Arredondo, J, Mohite, AD, Senftle, TP, Westerhoff, P, Alvarez, P, Wen, X, Song, Y & Wong, MS 2022, 'Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 448, 137735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.137735

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title = "Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid",

abstract = "Boron nitride (BN) has the newly-found property of degrading recalcitrant polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under ultraviolet C (UV-C, 254 nm) irradiation. It is ineffective at longer wavelengths, though. In this study, we report the simple calcination of BN and UV-A active titanium oxide (TiO2) creates a BN/TiO2 composite that is more photocatalytically active than BN or TiO2 under UV-A for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Under UV-A, BN/TiO2 degraded PFOA ∼ 15 × faster than TiO2, while BN was inactive. Band diagram analysis and photocurrent response measurements indicated that BN/TiO2 is a type-II heterojunction semiconductor, facilitating charge carrier separation. Additional experiments confirmed the importance of photogenerated holes for degrading PFOA. Outdoor experimentation under natural sunlight found BN/TiO2 to degrade PFOA in deionized water and salt-containing water with a half-life of 1.7 h and 4.5 h, respectively. These identified photocatalytic properties of BN/TiO2 highlight the potential for the light-driven destruction of other PFAS.",

keywords = "Boron nitride, Composite catalyst, PFAS, PFOA, Photocatalysis",

author = "Lijie Duan and Bo Wang and Heck, {Kimberly N.} and Clark, {Chelsea A.} and Jinshan Wei and Minghao Wang and Jordin Metz and Gang Wu and Tsai, {Ah Lim} and Sujin Guo and Jacob Arredondo and Mohite, {Aditya D.} and Senftle, {Thomas P.} and Paul Westerhoff and Pedro Alvarez and Xianghua Wen and Yonghui Song and Wong, {Michael S.}",

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doi = "10.1016/j.cej.2022.137735",

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T1 - Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid

AU - Duan, Lijie

AU - Wang, Bo

AU - Heck, Kimberly N.

AU - Clark, Chelsea A.

AU - Wei, Jinshan

AU - Wang, Minghao

AU - Metz, Jordin

AU - Wu, Gang

AU - Tsai, Ah Lim

AU - Guo, Sujin

AU - Arredondo, Jacob

AU - Mohite, Aditya D.

AU - Senftle, Thomas P.

AU - Westerhoff, Paul

AU - Alvarez, Pedro

AU - Wen, Xianghua

AU - Song, Yonghui

AU - Wong, Michael S.

PY - 2022/11/15

Y1 - 2022/11/15

N2 - Boron nitride (BN) has the newly-found property of degrading recalcitrant polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under ultraviolet C (UV-C, 254 nm) irradiation. It is ineffective at longer wavelengths, though. In this study, we report the simple calcination of BN and UV-A active titanium oxide (TiO2) creates a BN/TiO2 composite that is more photocatalytically active than BN or TiO2 under UV-A for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Under UV-A, BN/TiO2 degraded PFOA ∼ 15 × faster than TiO2, while BN was inactive. Band diagram analysis and photocurrent response measurements indicated that BN/TiO2 is a type-II heterojunction semiconductor, facilitating charge carrier separation. Additional experiments confirmed the importance of photogenerated holes for degrading PFOA. Outdoor experimentation under natural sunlight found BN/TiO2 to degrade PFOA in deionized water and salt-containing water with a half-life of 1.7 h and 4.5 h, respectively. These identified photocatalytic properties of BN/TiO2 highlight the potential for the light-driven destruction of other PFAS.

AB - Boron nitride (BN) has the newly-found property of degrading recalcitrant polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under ultraviolet C (UV-C, 254 nm) irradiation. It is ineffective at longer wavelengths, though. In this study, we report the simple calcination of BN and UV-A active titanium oxide (TiO2) creates a BN/TiO2 composite that is more photocatalytically active than BN or TiO2 under UV-A for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Under UV-A, BN/TiO2 degraded PFOA ∼ 15 × faster than TiO2, while BN was inactive. Band diagram analysis and photocurrent response measurements indicated that BN/TiO2 is a type-II heterojunction semiconductor, facilitating charge carrier separation. Additional experiments confirmed the importance of photogenerated holes for degrading PFOA. Outdoor experimentation under natural sunlight found BN/TiO2 to degrade PFOA in deionized water and salt-containing water with a half-life of 1.7 h and 4.5 h, respectively. These identified photocatalytic properties of BN/TiO2 highlight the potential for the light-driven destruction of other PFAS.

KW - Boron nitride

KW - Composite catalyst

KW - PFAS

KW - PFOA

KW - Photocatalysis

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Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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