TiO₂ Supported on Clay–Cement Hybrid Materials and Wood Fibers as Photocatalyst for Phenol Photodegradation

In this work, a composite containing clay, cement and wood fibers has been prepared and used in several applications such as ceramic, adsorption and catalysis. Different commercial titania (PC500, P90, and C-TiO₂) were immobilized on as-prepared composite. The prepared materials have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), gas sorption analyzer, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and EDX confirmed the dispersion of titania in the composite. The photocatalytic activity of the composite materials was investigated towards degradation of phenol in aqueous solution. The FTIR results show that particles of clay are modified to get inserted in the composite. The XRD results reveal the identification of crystalline phase of TiO₂ as anatase. The degradation results demonstrate that the composite with 3% P90 shows the highest photocatalytic activity of 41.65% in comparison with 3% PC500 and 3% C-TiO₂ which are 29.88% and 22.64%, respectively.