Photodegradation of 4-methylphenol on palladium phthalocyaninesulfonate functionalized mesopolymer under visible light irradiation.

A versatile photocatalyst has been prepared by grafting palladium phthalocyaninesulfonate (PdPcS) onto the FDU-14 mesopolymer with 3-D cubic mesostructure (FDU-14-PdPcS) via multi-step chemical modification processes. The FDU-14-PdPcS was characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) techniques. In the photodegradation studies of 4-methylphenol, the FDU-14-PdPcS catalyst exhibited excellent visible light photocatalytic activity and reusability in the present of H(2)O(2). The photodegradation intermediate of 4-methylphenol was investigated by gas chromatoghraphy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. Quenching experiments with isopropanol, sodium azide and benzoquinone suggested that (1)O(2) and O(2)(•¯) were the prominent active species during the photodegradation process. A possible mechanism involved in the photodegradation of 4-methylphenol has also been discussed.