| Summary: | Pesticides are widely detected in large quantities in the environment, posing an ecological threat to the human body and ecology. Semiconductor nanomaterials such as nano-titania (nTiO<sub>2</sub>) have strong photocatalytic degradation efficiency for pollutants. However, the wide bandgap and limited light absorption range inhibit nano-titania’s practical application. Therefore, nTiO<sub>2</sub> was modified by Fe<sup>3+</sup> doping using the microwave hydrothermal method to improve its photocatalytic performance in this study. Fe-nTiO<sub>2</sub> doped with a 1.0% mass ratio was used due to its high photocatalytic performance. Its maximum degradation efficiencies for ACE and ATZ under a 20 W xenon lamp were 88% and 88.5%, respectively. It was found that Fe<sup>3+</sup> doping modification distorted the spatial morphology of nTiO<sub>2</sub> and shortened the bandgap to facilitate the photocatalytic reaction. The electron paramagnetic resonance results showed that the reactive radicals (<sup>1</sup>O<sub>2</sub>, ·OH) produced by photogenerated electrons (e<sup>−</sup>) and holes (h<sup>+</sup>) of Fe-nTiO<sub>2</sub> were the main active species in the degradation of ACE and ATZ. Additionally, the application of Fe-nTiO<sub>2</sub> significantly enhanced the growth of lettuce under sunlight; the degradation efficiencies of ACE and ATZ in lettuce were 98.5% and 100%, respectively. This work provides new insights into the removal of organic contaminants by photocatalysts under sunlight in agriculture.
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