Synthesis of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/TiO2 Composite and Its Photocatalytic Activity

TiO2 particles coated Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT/TiO2 composite) were prepared via a sol-gel method using Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and tetrabutyl titanate as raw materials. The phase constitutes and microstructures of the prepared composite were analyzed by XRD and TEM, respectively. Their photocatalytic activities were investigated under simulated ultraviolet light and visible-light irradiation for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution, respectively. The experimental results indicated that TiO2 calcined at temperatures of 400-600 degrees C in the MWCNT/TiO2 composite was mainly composed of nanometric anatase. The composite exhibited enhanced absorption properties in the visible-light region compared to pure TiO2, which was attributed to the enhanced light electron-hole separation by adding MWCNTs.