Integrating modeling and experimental method for narrowing the optimum phase composition in P25 photocatalyst for typical aromatic pollutants degradation

Abstract The apparent rate constant k of the photocatalytic reaction of typical aromatic pollutants, i.e., dyestuff (rhodamine B [RhB]), phenol (bisphenol A [BPA]), organic chloride (4-chlorophenol [4-CP]), drug (carbamazepine [CBZ]), antibiotics (tetracycline [TC]), and endocrine contaminants (dimethyl phthalate [DMP]), with TiO2 at different ratios of rutile (WR) was experimentally obtained. The modelling results between k and WR show that the optimal WR of the six pollutants were in a narrow interval of [0.347, 0.384] by LogNormal model. The two-factor interaction (2FI) and Linear model between the kinetic k value and the photocatalytic performance parameters were established. The Pareto analysis results show that Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface (A) has little effect on the photocatalytic system, and the most important parameter is the interaction between Energy gap (Eg) and Photoluminescence (PL) intensity (B-C) that has a positive effect on photocatalytic reaction kinetics. The single-factor Eg (B) and PL intensity (C) have negative effects on UV photocatalytic reaction kinetics. This work can help narrow the range of the optimal WR of P25-TiO2 for emerging organic pollutants.