In this work, the influence of simple acids in the room temperature sol-gel synthesis of TiO₂ was investigated and the efficiency of prepared photocatalysts was evaluated in the removal of caffeine. To improve the photoactivity of TiO₂, vanadium-doped TiO₂ (VTiO₂) samples were obtained starting from different amount of vanadyl sulphate as a dopant source. The samples were centrifuged, washed and finally dried at room temperature, and no calcination step was carried out. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by different techniques (X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), specific surface area (SSA), ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) and Raman). VTiO₂ photocatalysts were tested in the photocatalytic removal of aqueous solutions containing caffeine. The photocatalytic tests were carried out in a recirculating batch cylindrical photoreactor irradiated by a UV LEDs strip (nominal power of 12 W and wavelength emission peak at about 365 nm) surrounding the external surface of the reactor. The optimized VTiO₂ photocatalyst was able to reach a caffeine degradation of about 96% after 360 min of UV light irradiation with a total organic carbon (TOC) removal of 72%.
Keywords: V-doped TiO2; caffeine; photocatalysis; room temperature synthesis; sol-gel; water treatment.