Preparation of transparent PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite films with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

Polymer/semiconductor oxide nanocomposite films have been intensively investigated for various applications. In this work, we reported a simple hydrothermal method to fabricate highly transparent poly(vinyl alcohol)/titanium dioxide (PVA/TiO2) nanocomposite films with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. The as-prepared PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite films showed high optical transparency in the visible region even at a high TiO2 content (up to 40 wt.%). The determination of photocatalytic activity by photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) and colorless phenol showed that PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite films exhibited enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity and excellent recycle stability. This work provided new insights into fabrication of polymer/TiO2 nanocomposites as high performance photocatalysts in waste water treatment (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.