Mo-modified TiO2 mesoporous microspheres prepared by spray pyrolysis for adsorption-photocatalytic water remediation

In this work, Mo-modified TiO2 microspheres (Mo@TiO2) were rapidly prepared by the spray pyrolysis method. The titania sol solution containing molybdenum salt and citric acid (CA) was nebulized to generate fine droplets, which were continuously transported into a quartz reactor heated at 600 degrees C by an N-2 gas flow. Characterization results revealed that the prepared Mo@TiO2 exhibited enhanced porosity and light adsorption ability. In addition, incorporating Mo species into the anatase TiO2 lattice narrowed the bandgap energy and created oxygen deficiencies, which are beneficial for the photoreduction performance. The adsorption-photodegradation of tetracycline antibiotics (TE) was systematically optimized by monitoring the Mo loads, catalyst dosage, contaminant concentration, and pH media. The results indicated that the optimal Mo@TiO2 microspheres containing 3 wt% Mo showed the highest removal efficiency of ca. similar to 90% toward tetracycline antibiotics under UV-light irradiation, surpassing the undoped TiO2 and commercial TiO2 (P25). Finally, after several photooxidation cycles, the fabricated Mo@TiO2 microspheres retained good photocatalytic activity and stability. The findings suggest that the spray pyrolysis-derived Mo-modified TiO2 microspheres can be promising photocatalytic materials for treating antibiotics in water. [GRAPHICS] .