A novel biomass-based support (Starbon) for TiO2 hybrid photocatalysts: a versatile green tool for water purification

The average size of the TiO2 nanoparticles was controlled at around 30 nm on Starbon 800 without using any surfactant, which is attributed to the hydrolysis and condensation (it is also proposed to be a plausible condensation with the carboxylate groups on the carbon surface) of the dissolved titanium(IV) isopropoxide into TiO2 by ultrasonic waves. As the Starbon in the composites has very good contact with the TiO2 nanoparticles (there is no Ti leaching after 240 min of photocatalysis, XRF analysis) it enhances the photo-electron conversion (better than Norit and graphene oxide carbons) of TiO2 by reducing the recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs. We have prepared an excellent new hybrid photocatalyst for aqueous phase phenol total mineralization.