Favorable recycling photocatalyst TiO2/CFA: Effects of loading method on the structural property and photocatalytic activity
In order to more easily separate TiO2 photocatalyst from the treated wastewater, TiO2 was immobilized
on the surface of coal fly ash by employing three kinds of approaches, sol–gel procedure, ambient
hydrolysis procedure and hybrid slurry procedure. The effects of loading method on the structural property
of TiO2-coated coal fly ash (TiO2/CFA), such as morphology, crystal structure, porous property and
ultraviolet-visible absorption were investigated, and the photocatalytic activity of TiO2/CFA was evaluated
by the photocatalytic depigmentation and mineralization of methyl orange solution. The results
show that TiO2/CFA particles are easy to precipitate and recover fromwater. The hybrid slurry procedure
is a more proper method to immobilize TiO2 on coal fly ash than the other two procedures because the
TiO2/CFA sample prepared by hybrid slurry procedure exhibits higher photocatalytic activity and better
repeatability.