TiO2/graphene nanocomposite supported on clinoptilolite nanoplate and its enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

In this work, TiO2/graphene nanocomposite supported on clinoptilolite (CLP) nanoplate was prepared for the first time by hydrothermal method and was used as efficient visible light photocatalyst for degradation of nitenpyram insecticide. The results indicated that the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of TiO2/CLP/graphene nanocomposite, containing 30 wt% CLP and 1 wt% graphene, was remarkably higher than that of pure TiO2. This significantly improved photocatalytic performance could be mainly ascribed to the desirable advantages of CLP and graphene, including microporous structure, increasing of the effective surface area, enhancement of the visible light harvesting and improving of the charge carriers separation. Based on the radical rapping experiments, the hydroxyl radicals were identified as main active species responsible for the photocatalytic degradation of nitenpyram on the prepared photocatalyst. This study provides a new insight to fabricate more effective zeolite and graphene-based nanocomposite photocatalysts for environmental remediation.

Automated summary

The TiO2/graphene nanocomposite supported on clinoptilolite nanoplate prepared by hydrothermal method showed significantly higher photocatalytic degradation efficiency for nitenpyram insecticide under visible light, mainly due to the advantages of clinoptilolite and graphene, such as microporous structure and enhancement of effective surface area. The hydroxyl radicals were identified as the main active species responsible for the photocatalytic degradation of nitenpyram. This study provides a new insight for fabricating more effective zeolite and graphene-based nanocomposite photocatalysts for environmental remediation.