Photocatalysis in darkness. Optimization of sol-gel synthesis of NP-TiO2 supported on a persistent luminescence material and its application for the removal of Ofloxacin from water

In the present work, a new photocatalyst based on a new persistent luminescence phosphor, PeLM, and NPs-TiO2 was synthesized and the synthesis was optimized using a chemometric approach. A solid-state synthesis was used to obtain the persistent luminescence material while a sol-gel synthesis was used to obtain anatase NPs-TiO2. Each sample was then characterized by means of XRD, SEM and BET analysis, while the photocatalytic activity was evaluated testing the percent degradation of a methylene blue aqueous solution. Two different kinds of experiments were performed on the optimized sample, using a continuous irradiation or halving it with darkness cycles. It has been demonstrated that the PeLM acts as an internal source for TiO2, providing the excitation required for the photocatalysis and so allowing to continue photon absorption even in darkness conditions. The two materials were coupled by means of a solid-state synthesis, varying the ratio between the reagents (1, 6), the heating temperature (350, 550°C) and time (1, 6 hours) through a chemometric approach, in order to find the optimized values. Validating the model led to the conclusion that the parameters affecting the synthesis have no significant interactions among them. The obtained results demonstrated the real applicability of this coupled system in the removal of Ofloxacin from water solution as probe of emerging organic pollutants.