Photocatalytic degradation of imidacloprid by composite catalysts H3PW12O40/La-TiO2

A series of La-doped TiO2 with different mass fractions were prepared by sol-gel method. Composite catalysts H3PW12O40/La-TiO2 with different loading levels were synthesized using impregnation method. The prepared samples were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis. The Keggin structure of H3PW12O40 (HPW) remained intact on the surface of the composites, they had relatively uniform spherical grains of diameter less than 20 nm. The visible light activity of prepared composites were improved by loading HPW and doping La. The prepared composites were used as photocatalysts in degradation of pesticide imidacloprid. Results revealed that 20%H3PW12O40/0.3%La-TiO2 possessed the best photocatalytic activity. Thus, the degradation conversion of imidacloprid reached 98.17% after 60 min irradiation when 20%H3PW12O40/0.3% La-TiO2 was used as catalysts. The degradation of imidacloprid corresponded with first-order kinetic reaction, and the half life of the degradation of imidacloprid was 9.35 min in the optimal conditions.