Photocatalytic HO production with perylene(bis-imide)-doped periodic mesoporous silica using micropollutants as sacrificial donors

A perylene-doped mesoporous silica material, PDI-SiO 2 , is used as a heterogeneous photocatalyst for the light-driven production of H 2 O 2 from polluted water samples. The photocatalyst operating principle is based on a reductive quenching mechanism where aqueous micropollutants act as sacrificial donors. The resulting reduced photocatalyst transfers electrons to aqueous O 2 , leading to superoxide O 2 &z.rad; − , which evolves into H 2 O 2 . Using a set of representative micropollutants (diclofenac, bisphenol-A and ofloxacin), appreciable amounts of H 2 O 2 have been photoproduced (from 0.2 to 1.7 mM over 8 hours of irradiation) from concentrated samples (1 mM). Less concentrated samples (10 μM) were efficiently decontaminated when treated with PDI-SiO 2 in the presence of Fenton catalysts. We evidence that the efficiency of H 2 O 2 photoproduction is related to the extent of the interactions between micropollutants and PDI-SiO 2 . A perylene-doped mesoporous silica material is used as a photocatalyst to produce H 2 O 2 from aerated polluted water samples under light soaking.