Firmly-supported porous fabric fiber photocatalysts: TiO2/porous carbon fiber cloth composites and their photocatalytic activity

The use of a support may overcome the limitations of nano-photocatalysts (poor recyclability, secondary pollution, and agglomeration that decreases photocatalytic activity); however, supports such as fibers, fabrics, films, and foams, still exhibit many defects (low loadings, non-uniform particle loadings, and insufficient loading firmness). In this study, we fabricated TiO2/porous carbon fiber cloth through a microwave hydrothermal method and thermal reduction. The highly porous structure of fiber could provide abundant space to firmly-supported TiO2 nanoparticles. Therefore, the results showed that large amounts of TiO2 were uniformly and firmly loaded onto the porous carbon fiber cloth, and the obtained composite exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity. The initial loading rate reached 51 wt.%. Even after 10 photocatalytic cycles, the pollutant degradation rate exceeded 95%, and 55% of TiO2 was retained, showing its stability. This investigation provides a method to prepare supported photocatalysis, which can greatly promote their practical applications for wastewater treatment.

Automated summary

TiO2/porous carbon fiber cloth composite, prepared through microwave hydrothermal method and thermal reduction, exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity and stability, offering a new method for the practical application of supported photocatalysts.