Silver-Doped TiO2-Coated Cotton Fabric as an Effective Photocatalytic System for Dye Decolorization in UV and Visible Light

In this study, titanium tetra-isopropoxide was used as a precursor of TiO2 for in situ coating on cotton fabric by sol-gel method. Subsequently, silver nitrate was used as doping agent to prepare silver-doped TiO2-coated cotton fabric during hydrothermal treatment. The treated samples were characterized through field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy to study morphology, composition of deposited elements and light absorption behavior of treated samples. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was carried out to analyze the electronic state of silver in TiO2-coated fabric after hydrothermal treatment. Doping of silver on TiO2-coated fabric and subsequent hydrothermal treatment was found to enhance dye decolorization rate of rhodamine B dye solution in both UV and visible light radiations with respect to undoped TiO2. The study shows that an optimal level of silver-doped TiO2-coated fabric can be used repeatedly for dye decolorization without significant loss in its photocatalytic activity. The self-cleaning properties of samples were also studied using methylene blue as a staining agent. It was observed that the presence of 1.8% silver on the weight of titanium in doped samples provides almost 82% of stain degradation.