Doped Ti-pillared clays as effective adsorbents – Application to methylene blue and trimethoprim removal

Abstract

Environmental contextWater is an essential compound for life; however, several factors limit the amount available for human consumption. Every day, thousands of pollutants are discharged into drinking water. Here, new materials that are efficient as adsorbents and photocatalysts for pollutants are reported. AbstractMontmorillonite was treated with Ti-based solutions doped with various transition metal cations, leading after calcination at 500°C to new doped Ti-pillared montmorillonite solids. These solids were characterised by elemental chemical analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform (FT)-IR spectroscopy, thermal analyses, nitrogen adsorption, acidity evaluation and electron microscopy. The performance of these solids in the degradation of methylene blue and the adsorption of trimethoprim was evaluated.