Chitosan-based recyclable composite aerogels for the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B

Jiajia Chen; Hao Li; Lulu Ma; Guoxia Jiang; Dan Li; Yang Wu; Xiaowen Shi; Dan Li; Xu Wang; Hongbing Deng

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118559

Chitosan-based recyclable composite aerogels for the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B

Carbohydr Polym. 2021 Dec 1:273:118559. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118559. Epub 2021 Aug 18.

Authors

Jiajia Chen¹, Hao Li¹, Lulu Ma², Guoxia Jiang¹, Dan Li¹, Yang Wu¹, Xiaowen Shi¹, Dan Li³, Xu Wang⁴, Hongbing Deng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Sustainable Resource and Energy, Hubei Key Laboratory of Biomass Resource Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology, School of Resource and Environmental Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China.
² SUSTech Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
³ Three Gorges Base Development, Co. Ltd, Yichang 443002, China.
⁴ Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Sustainable Resource and Energy, Hubei Key Laboratory of Biomass Resource Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology, School of Resource and Environmental Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China. Electronic address: xu.wang@whu.edu.cn.
⁵ Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Sustainable Resource and Energy, Hubei Key Laboratory of Biomass Resource Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology, School of Resource and Environmental Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China. Electronic address: hbdeng@whu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34560970
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118559

Abstract

TiO₂ based photocatalyst with sufficient reusability for the degradation of water pollutants remains a challenge. Here, we report a composite chitosan-based aerogel containing TiO₂ nanoparticles, multiwalled carbon nanotubes and layered silicate rectorite with sufficient mechanical strength for Rhodamine B degradation. The aerogels with homogeneous oriented lamellar structure were successfully prepared via a unidirectional freeze-casting technique. As-prepared aerogels showed specific surface area of 84.59 m²/g. The addition of rectorite and carbon nanotubes accelerated the photodegradation and rectorite significantly enhanced the overall mechanical performance. Rapid degradation of rhodamine B (95% in 100 min) was observed on aerogels with 2 wt% and 4 wt% of rectorite. After 3 cycles, 75% degradation of Rhodamine B was achieved with CTCR4, confirming its reusability. Thus, the composite chitosan aerogels show high photocatalytic degradation efficiency towards Rhodamine B during cycle use.

Keywords: Multi-walled carbon nanotubes; Oriented lamellar structure; Photocatalytic degradation; Rectorite; Unidirectional freeze-casting method.