Preparation of TaON and degradation of phenol under visible light

The degradation of organic pollutants by photocatalytic Oxidation way has been taken as a promising advanced oxidation technique on water treatment. To design and prepare catalysts utilizing visible light to degrade organic pollutants, a new kind of photocatalyst TaON was prepared by nitridation of Ta2O5 at high temperature. And Pt/TaON was also prepared with photoreduction method. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, XPS and UV-VIS, and the crystal lattice defect was found in the samples. Their chemical composition was nonstoichiometric, and might be taken as TaOxNy. UV-VIS analysis proved that the response area of the samples shifted to the visible light area. Under the irradiation of xenon lamp (λ≥420 nm), the photo-catalytic degradation of phenol with TaON or Pt/TaON as catalysts respectively indicated that TaON deposited with Pt could improve photocatalytic activity. When deposited amount of Pt was 1.5wt% and the irradiation time was 120 minutes, the photo-degradation rate of phenol reached 92%. Comparing with that of TaON as catalyst, it increased 11%.