Effect of doping Fe/Cu/Ti on WO3 on furfural degradation

Abstract

This research improved tungsten oxide catalysts to increase efficiency in photocatalytic degradation of furfural under visible light. The aim of this research was to compare the efficiency of modified tungsten oxide with undoped and commercial tungsten oxide. Tungsten oxide nanoparticles were doped with 3 single metals, which were Fe/Cu/Ti at 1%wt, 2%wt, and 3%wt, synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis technique (FSP) and then characterization by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption/desorption (BET surface area analysis), UV-Vis Spectroscopy (UV-Vis). Photocatalytic degradation experiments using doped WO3 were carried out with 5 ppm initial concentration of furfural solution using 0.6 M catalyst concentration under visible light. From the results, FSP-synthesized WO3 has better efficiency in furfural degradation than the commercial WO3. All catalysts have mesoporous structure because an average pore size is in the range of 6-10 nm. Among all synthesized and doped WO3, it can be concluded that 3%wt Fe-doped tungsten oxide provides the highest acceleration rate in photocatalytic degradation of furfural.