Fast degradation of phenol over porphyrin-polyoxometalate composite photocatalysts under visible light

Both polyoxometalates (POMs) and metalloporphyrins exhibit high Arial. 9 efficiency. In this work, we designed two new composite catalysts with [5,10,15,20-tetra-(4-carboxylphenyl)-porphyrinato]-ferric chloride (FeTCPP) and H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ (PW₁₂)/H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀ (PMo₁₂), forming FeTCPP-PW₁₂ and FeTCPP-PMo₁₂ composite catalysts. The diameter of the catalyst particles was controlled by varying the dosage of the two reactants. The synthesis method of the catalysts is simple to operate and it can be obtained by ordinary precipitation after dissolution. Furthermore, the catalysts exhibited satisfactory activity and stability under the condition of repetitive tests. Our findings showed that phenol was almost completely degraded in 10 min under photocatalytic conditions catalyzed by the FeTCPP-PMo₁₂ photocatalyst. This work provides new concepts for developing new types of materials for environmental applications.