Role of Manganese Doping TiO2 Hollow Spheres under Vacuum Ultraviolet Irradiation

In the past two decades, photocatalysis has been widely studied due to its strong oxidizing power and moderate reaction conditions. In addition, photocatalysis with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation has been considered a promising method for volatile organic compounds removal. However, residual O3 can cause secondary pollution. In this study, manganese doped TiO2 hollow spheres (MnO2/TiO2) were applied to degrade the residual ozone as well as to promote removal of toluene under VUV irradiation. Toluene was used to evaluate the catalytic ability of the photocatalysts under VUV irradiation. SEM, TEM, XRD, BET, XPS and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were used to determine physical and chemical properties of the catalysts in order to correlate these properties to the observed activities. The results obtained showed that through the cooperation between Mn and Ti, MnO2/TiO2 hollow spheres demonstrated excellent photocatalytic activity. The mechanism of toluene removal under VUV process was also proposed.