Enhanced photoelectrocatalytic degradation of an acid dye with boron-doped TiO2 nanotube anodes

• B-doped TiO2 nanotubes were prepared electrochemically in a single step process.
• B-doped TiO2 NTs has great application as photoanode activated by visible light.
• Hair dye treated by B–TiO2 NTs reached 100% of discoloration and 95% of TOC removal.

The present work evaluates the performance of boron-doped TiO2 nanotubes (B–TiO2 NTs) prepared by electrochemical anodization in the presence of 70, 140, 280 and 560 ppm of boron when activated by UV/visible irradiation. The presence of boron was characterized by FEG-MEV, XRD, DRS, XPS and photocurrent curves, where the maximum values were obtained for B–TiO2 NTs. Assessment of the electrodes were conducted in the hair dye degradation (Acid Yellow 1 dye) and the degradation rate was 2 times higher at the doped electrode containing 280 ppm of boron, where the maximum electrode activation was obtained under UV/vis irradiation. The best results indicate 100% of discoloration and up to 95% of TOC removal when 100 ppm of Acid Yellow 1 dye was treated at B–TiO2 NTs electrode during 120 min at Eapp = +1.2 V in 0.01 mol L−1 of Na2SO4 at pH 2. These findings showed that the photoelectrocatalysis is an efficient method to remove hazardous organic compounds from water and B-doped TiO2 electrodes are an important step in the search for efficient and stable catalysts for photo(electro)catalysis.

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