Physicochemical characteristic of regenerated cellulose/N-doped TiO2 nanocomposite membrane fabricated from recycled newspaper with photocatalytic activity under UV and visible light irradiation

The use of recycled newspaper as sustainable cellulose resource for the fabrication of green organic/inorganic hybrid photocatalytic membrane via phase inversion method was highlighted in this study. The incorporation of N-doped TiO2 nanorods as a nanocomposite in regenerated cellulose membrane matrix to great extent has altered its morphological and physicochemical properties, as revealed by FESEM, AFM, FTIR, XRD, XPS, and UV-visible spectroscopy analyses. FTIR analysis suggested that there is a strong interaction between the hydroxyl groups of regenerated cellulose (RC) and the TiO2 nanorods through hydrogen bonding interactions. The UV-visible spectroscopy and XPS analysis confirmed that the highly visible light absorption capability of the prepared RC/TiO2 nanocomposite membrane is due to the existence of nitrogen as dopant in the TiO2 lattice structure. The resultant membranes showed a significant photocatalytic performance in the degradation of phenol in aqueous solution under UV and visible light irradiation, respectively. It was found that 0.5 wt% of TiO2 nanorods was the best loading in the regenerated cellulose membrane (RCM) with desirable physicochemical and photocatalytic properties. This study promotes the use of RC/TiO2 nanocomposite membrane as a new and green portable photocatalyst in the field of wastewater treatment without leaving any photocatalyst in the reaction system. It is crucial to emphasize that the use of a non-toxic solvent-based system in this study provide a significant contribution towards the development of a green technology system. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.