Facile fabrication of titanium dioxide/fullerene nanocomposite and its enhanced visible photocatalytic activity

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science 2016-03, Vol.466, p.56-61
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xuan, Wang, Qi, Zou, Lan-Hua, You, Jia-Wen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Degradation; Fullerene; Fullerenes; Nanocomposite; Nanocomposites; Photocatalysis; Photocatalyst; Photocatalysts; Radicals; Titanium dioxide; Trapping; Visible light
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.12.013

TiO2/fullerene nanocomposite was facilely prepared and showed an enhanced visible photocatalytic activity. [Display omitted] Titanium dioxide (TiO2)/fullerene hybrid nanocomposite was facilely fabricated by mixing TiO2 and poly-carboxylic acid functionalized fullerene under an ultrasonication–evaporation method. It was found that the TiO2/fullerene composite could serve as an efficient and reusable photocatalyst for degradation of rhodamine B dye under visible light (λ>400nm). The as-prepared photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS). The degradation experiments revealed that the photocatalytic activity strongly depends on the contents of fullerene from 0.5% to 3% mass ratio. The incorporation of fullerene into TiO2 efficiently extended the absorption spectrum of photocatalyst to visible light region, enhanced the adsorption capacity and degradation efficiency, resulting from a synergistic effect of fullerene and TiO2. The trapping experiments demonstrated that both the photo-generated hole (h+) and the reactive oxygen species such as superoxide anion radical (O2−) were involved in the photocatalytic reaction.