Ti-Modified LaFeO3/β-SiC Alveolar Foams as Immobilized Dual Catalysts with Combined Photo-Fenton and Photocatalytic Activity

Ti-modified LaFeO3/β-SiC alveolar foams were used as immobilized, highly robust dual catalysts with combined photocatalytic wet peroxide oxidation and photocatalytic activity under UV-A light. They were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation of a β-SiC foam support, by implementing a sol–gel Pechini synthesis at the foam surface in the presence of dried amorphous sol–gel titania as a titanium source. The physicochemical and catalytic features suggest the stabilization at the foam surface of a substituted La1–xTixFeO3 catalyst analogous to its powdery counterpart. Taking 4-chlorophenol removal in water as a model reaction, its dual nature enables both high reaction rates and full total organic carbon (TOC) conversion because of a synergy effect, while its macroscopic structure overcomes the drawback of working with powdery catalysts. Further, it yields photonic efficiencies for degradation and mineralization of ca. 9.4 and 38%, respectively, that strongly outperform those obtained with a reference TiO2 P25/β-SiC foam photocatalyst. The enhancement of the catalyst robustness upon Ti modification prevents any Fe leaching to the solution, and therefore, the optimized macroscopic foam catalyst with 10 wt % catalyst loading operates through pure heterogeneous surface reactions, without any activity loss during reusability test cycles.