Composite photocatalysts for the degradation of environmental poillutants

The aim is to develop highly active and selective photocatalysts for the degradation of pollutants in the gaseous (especially NOx and VOC) and liquid (chlorinated phenols, veterinary antibiotics) phase and to explain their function. Photocatalysts to achieve the desired photocatalytic efficiency will be based on heterojunctions of oxide semiconductor nanoparticles (especially titanium dioxide, zinc and tungsten oxides) and carbon dopants (fullerenes, CNTs, graphene). In addition to the detailed characterization of the developed photocatalysts using a number of spectroscopic and microscopic methods, great attention will be paid to explaining the mechanism of degradation of pollutants and especially the role of carbon dopants. Photocatalytic experiments involve a combination of advanced analytical methods (HPLC, GC-MS, etc.).