Different aromatic hydrocarbons of anthropogenic origin in the environment affect living systems, thus, their elimination is necessary. This work evaluates the photocatalytic degradation of p -cresol in an aqueous medium and toluene in the gas phase using Bi2O3/TiO2-N (TBN) as catalyst under visible radiation (LED lamp). The performance of this catalyst was compared with that of TiO2, Bi2O3/TiO2 and TiO2-N. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that Bi2O3 was incorporated superficially and nitrogen substitutionally, reducing the band gap from 3.12 for TiO2 to 2.67 eV for TBN. From the photocatalytic tests, 85 % of degradation of p -cresol (30 mg/L) and 54 % of mineralization were achieved after 6 h of reaction with TBN. For toluene (20 mg/m3), 36 % of degradation was achieved in 3 h. It was demonstrated that modifying TiO2, with nitrogen and bismuth, favors the photocatalytic degradation of these hydrocarbons under visible radiation.
