Ti-containing volcanic ash as photocatalyst for degradation of phenol

Photocatalysis application in effluent decontamination is becoming one of the most promising green chemistry technologies. In this paper, natural volcanic ash particles have been characterized and used either as photocatalysts or as a support for a titania-containing photocatalyst. The natural material alone displayed good photocatalyst behaviour as a consequence of the presence of some titanium compounds in its composition. The original ashes were further loaded with TiO2 through hydrolysis of TiOSO4 under hydrothermal conditions. Activity tests of these Ti-loaded materials in the photocatalytic decomposition and elimination of phenol-type organic pollutants in water displayed good activity which makes them candidates to be used as photocatalysts for waste water treatment.