Transformation of novel TiOF2 nanoparticles to cluster TiO2-{001/101} and its degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride under simulated sunlight

Yue Jian; Huayang Liu; Jiaming Zhu; Yaqiong Zeng; Zuohua Liu; Chentao Hou; Shihua Pu

doi:10.1039/d0ra08476j

Transformation of novel TiOF₂ nanoparticles to cluster TiO₂-{001/101} and its degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride under simulated sunlight

RSC Adv. 2020 Nov 24;10(70):42860-42873. doi: 10.1039/d0ra08476j. eCollection 2020 Nov 23.

Authors

Yue Jian^{1

2}, Huayang Liu³, Jiaming Zhu^{1

2}, Yaqiong Zeng^{1

2}, Zuohua Liu¹, Chentao Hou³, Shihua Pu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Chongqing Academy of Animal Sciences Chongqing 402460 China pu88962@126.com.
² Scientific Observation and Experiment Station of Livestock Equipment Engineering in Southwest, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Chongqing 402460 China.
³ College of Geology and Environment, Xi'an University of Science and Technology Xi'an 710054 China 807484470@qq.com.

Abstract

The anatase type cluster TiO₂-{001/101} was rapidly generated by a one-step hydrothermal method. The transformation process of coral-like TiOF₂ nanoparticles to cluster TiO₂-{001/101} was investigated for the first time, and the sensitization between cluster TiO₂-{001/101} and tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) was also discussed. The degradation rate of TCH by cluster TiO₂-{001/101} under simulated sunlight was 92.3%, and the total removal rate was 1.76 times that of P25. Besides, cluster TiO₂-{001/101} settles more easily than P25 in deionized water. The study showed that cluster TiO₂-{001/101} derived from coral-like TiOF₂ nanoparticles had a strong adsorption effect on TCH, which was attributed to the oxygen vacancy (O_v) and {001} facets of cluster TiO₂-{001/101}. The strong adsorption effect promoted the sensitization between cluster TiO₂-{001/101} and TCH, and widened the visible light absorption range of cluster TiO₂-{001/101}. In addition, the fluorescence emission spectrum showed that cluster TiO₂-{001/101} had a lower luminous intensity, which was attributed to the heterojunction formed by {001} facets and {101} facets that reduces the recombination rate of carriers. It should be noted that cluster TiO₂-{001/101} still has good degradation performance for TCH after five cycles of degradation. This study provides a new idea for the synthesis of cluster TiO₂-{001/101} with high photocatalytic performance for the treatment of TCH wastewater.