Efficient solar-light conversion for optimizing the catalytic ozonation of gaseous toluene with PdO -LaFeO3

Solar-energy conversion is a promising strategy to enhance efficiency and save energy for pollutant elimination. In this study, we combined LaFeO3 and PdOx to simultaneously convert the energy from ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared (IR) light and thus enhance the catalytic ozonation of toluene. The contribution of photothermal and photoelectric effect for the prepared samples was evaluated by temperature and light-controlled experiments. Results revealed that the removal and mineralization efficiencies of toluene for 10%PdOx-LaFeO3 reached 52.9% and 40.2%, respectively, under full-spectrum illumination. The synergistic factor of full-spectrum light and ozone for 10%PdOx-LaFeO3 was 3.19 times higher than that for LaFeO3. The incident-light and absorbed-light photothermal-conversion efficiencies of full-spectrum for 10%PdOx-LaFeO3 were 2.0 and 1.7 times higher than that for LaFeO3, respectively. PdOx loading also significantly promoted the separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers and expanded the valid spectrum of photoelectric effect from the ultraviolet to visible regions.