Facile Fabrication of C-TiO2 Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity for Degradation of Tetracycline

Shuaishuai Ma; Jiandong Gu; Yingxia Han; Yuan Gao; Yuqing Zong; Zhaolian Ye; Jinjuan Xue

doi:10.1021/acsomega.9b02411

Facile Fabrication of C-TiO₂ Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity for Degradation of Tetracycline

ACS Omega. 2019 Dec 3;4(25):21063-21071. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b02411. eCollection 2019 Dec 17.

Authors

Shuaishuai Ma¹, Jiandong Gu¹, Yingxia Han¹, Yuan Gao¹, Yuqing Zong², Zhaolian Ye¹, Jinjuan Xue²

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou 213001, P. R. China.
² School of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, P. R. China.

Abstract

Visible-lightdriven C-TiO₂ nanocomposites were prepared via a simple calcination and acid etching process. The C-TiO₂ nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution TEM. The results showed that TiO₂ nanoparticles were combined with a porous carbon layer through surface C-O groups, which facilitates the strong interface interaction. The interface combination of nano-TiO₂ and carbon material increases the specific surface area of nano-TiO₂, widens the range of light response, and improves the efficiency of light-induced electron migration. The visible-light photocatalytic activity of the prepared photocatalyst was evaluated by the decomposition of tetracycline aqueous solution. Compared with that of pure TiO₂, the photocatalytic activity of C-TiO₂ nanocomposites was significantly improved. Furthermore, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was also tentatively proposed. This work can promote the development of active photocatalysts under solar light for the photodegradation of environmental pollutants.