In the past few years, biomass carbon materials have gained wide attention from many scholars as TiO2 carrier materials to improve photocatalytic activity due to their renewable, green, low-cost, and high-efficiency advantages. In this study, TiO2/carbonized waste rabbit fibers (TiO2/CRFs) nanocomposites with the hierarchical microporous/mesoporous structure were fabricated by a combination of carbonization, immersion, and calcination methods using tetrabutyl titanate as the titanium source and waste rabbit hair as the carbon source. The properties and catalytic activity of TiO2/CRFs composite were evaluated based on several characterization techniques and methylene blue (MB) photodegradation studies. The results showed that the degradation of MB by TiO2/CRFs could reach 98.1% after 80 min of solar irradiation. Moreover, TiO2/CRFs still maintained high photocatalytic activity after five cycles of degradation tests, exhibiting good stability and reusability. The improved photocatalytic performance of TiO2/CRFs materials is attributed to the natural carbon and nitrogen element doping of TiO2/CRFs and its morphology, which reduces the compounding of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and narrows the TiO2 band gap, while the multiple reflections of visible light in the pore channels enhance the visible light absorption of the materials. Furthermore, the large specific surface area provides abundant reaction sites for adsorbed reactants. This paper provides the experimental basis for the application of waste rabbit biomass carbon composites in photocatalytic degradation field.
Keywords: TiO2; biomass carbon; photocatalytic degradation; waste rabbit hair.