Summary: | In the presented work, for the first time, the metal-modified defective titanium(IV) oxide nanoparticles with well-defined titanium vacancies, was successfully obtained. Introducing platinum and copper nanoparticles (NPs) as surface modifiers of defective d-TiO<sub>2</sub> significantly increased the photocatalytic activity in both UV-Vis and Vis light ranges. Moreover, metal NPs deposition on the magnetic core allowed for the effective separation and reuse of the nanometer-sized photocatalyst from the suspension after the treatment process. The obtained Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@SiO<sub>2</sub>/d-TiO<sub>2</sub>-Pt/Cu photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and specific surface area (BET) measurements, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DR-UV/Vis), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Further, the mechanism of phenol degradation and the role of four oxidative species (h<sup>+</sup>, e<sup>−</sup>, <sup>•</sup>OH, and <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub><sup>−</sup>) in the studied photocatalytic process were investigated.
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