Effective removal of quinoline in wastewater using Gd-TiO2 photocatalyst

IF 4.3 2区材料科学 Q2 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Vacuum Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-18 DOI:10.1016/j.vacuum.2025.115019

Xiaoying Yu , Gala Sa , Aiju Xu

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Abstract

The coal chemical industry produces significant wastewater containing refractory organic pollutants, with quinoline being a particularly persistent contaminant in secondary biochemical effluents. To overcome the limitations of standard TiO₂ photocatalysts—specifically, their restricted light absorption range and rapid charge recombination—this work created Gd-doped TiO₂ (Gd-TiO₂) catalysts using a hydrothermal approach. Comprehensive characterization showed that the optimal 1.5 % Gd-TiO₂ presents three primary advantages: (1) a 55 % increase in specific surface area (174 m² g⁻¹), (2) enhanced visible-light absorption through bandgap reduction (3.06 eV), and (3) improved charge separation. These modifications enabled the 1.5 % Gd-TiO₂ catalyst to achieve 84 % quinoline degradation within 3 h (mineralization rate: 53.2 %), maintaining 80.3 % efficiency after four cycles, demonstrating exceptional stability. Mechanistic studies revealed a hydroxyl radical-dominated degradation pathway involving sequential benzene-ring opening and pyridine-ring cleavage. This study presents a high-efficiency photocatalyst for industrial wastewater remediation and provides essential insights into rare-earth-modified TiO₂ systems.

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Gd-TiO2光催化剂对废水中喹啉的有效去除

煤化工工业产生大量含有难降解有机污染物的废水，喹啉是二级生化废水中特别持久的污染物。为了克服标准TiO2光催化剂的局限性，特别是其有限的光吸收范围和快速电荷重组，本研究使用水热方法制备了gd掺杂TiO2 （Gd-TiO2）催化剂。综合表征表明，最优的1.5% Gd-TiO2具有三个主要优点：(1)比表面积增加55% (174 m2 g−1),(2)通过减小带隙增强可见光吸收（3.06 eV），(3)改善电荷分离。这些修饰使1.5%的Gd-TiO2催化剂在3小时内实现84%的喹啉降解（矿化率：53.2%），在4个循环后保持80.3%的效率，表现出优异的稳定性。机理研究揭示了一个羟基自由基主导的降解途径，包括顺序的苯环打开和吡啶环裂解。本研究提出了一种用于工业废水修复的高效光催化剂，并为稀土改性TiO2体系提供了重要的见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Vacuum 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

17.50%

发文量

审稿时长

34 days

期刊介绍： Vacuum is an international rapid publications journal with a focus on short communication. All papers are peer-reviewed, with the review process for short communication geared towards very fast turnaround times. The journal also published full research papers, thematic issues and selected papers from leading conferences. A report in Vacuum should represent a major advance in an area that involves a controlled environment at pressures of one atmosphere or below. The scope of the journal includes: 1. Vacuum; original developments in vacuum pumping and instrumentation, vacuum measurement, vacuum gas dynamics, gas-surface interactions, surface treatment for UHV applications and low outgassing, vacuum melting, sintering, and vacuum metrology. Technology and solutions for large-scale facilities (e.g., particle accelerators and fusion devices). New instrumentation ( e.g., detectors and electron microscopes). 2. Plasma science; advances in PVD, CVD, plasma-assisted CVD, ion sources, deposition processes and analysis. 3. Surface science; surface engineering, surface chemistry, surface analysis, crystal growth, ion-surface interactions and etching, nanometer-scale processing, surface modification. 4. Materials science; novel functional or structural materials. Metals, ceramics, and polymers. Experiments, simulations, and modelling for understanding structure-property relationships. Thin films and coatings. Nanostructures and ion implantation.