Degradation of organophosphorus flame retardant tri(chloro-propyl)phosphate (TCPP) by (001) crystal plane of TiO₂ photocatalysts

ABSTRACT

This paper demonstrates the successful synthesis of TiO₂ with (001) crystal plane; its morphology and structure were characterized using XRD, TEM and Raman spectrometer. The results showed that TiO₂ nanosheets were bounded by (001) facets on both the top and bottom. TiO₂-001/UV photocatalytic process was proved to be a powerful method for degrading tri(chloro-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) in aqueous solution. Under the given parameters, 95% of TCPP was removed in 360 min. The photodegradation followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic reaction. The reactive species during photocatalytic oxidation of TiO₂-001 was mainly hydroxyl radical. TCPP was decomposed into small molecule organics by hydroxyl radicals, along with the release of ${\mathrm{PO}}_4^{3-}$ and Cl⁻, and most of these intermediates were eventually degraded into carbon dioxide and water.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• TiO₂-001
• TCPP
• photocatalytic degradation
• mechanism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported jointly by the National Nature Science Foundation of China [grant number 21777067], the Six Talent Peaks Project in Jiangsu Province [grant number JNHB-105], the Primary Research & Development Plan of Jiangsu Province [grant number BE2019743], National water pollution control and treatment technology major special subject [grant number 2017ZX07202004], the Open Fund of the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, Northeast Normal University [grant number 130028903], Introducing Talent Research Start-up Project of Nanjing Normal University, Scientific Research Fund of Guizhou Provincial Education Department of China [grant number KY [2016] 100], [grant number KY [2016] 010].