In situ synthesis of carbon doped TiO2 nanotubes with an enhanced photocatalytic performance under UV and visible light

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been widely investigated as a photocatalytic material. However, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 is suppressed by the large band gap and the recombination rate of the electron-hole pairs. Here, we propose an in situ synthetic strategy for the construct of carbon doped TiO2 (carbon-TiO2) nanotubes using surface-sulfonated layer of polystyrene fibers/titania composites as the precursors of TiO2 and carbon source via a facile route of calcination. This technique involves the preparation of morphology well controlled polystyrene fibers, sulfonation of PS fibers, sol-gel synthetic process of TiO2 and the pyrolysis of SSPS fibers in a N-2 atmosphere at 450 degrees C. The morphology and structure of as-prepared carbon-TiO2 nanotubes are mainly characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS and UV-vis spectroscopy. All results confirm the carbon doping in the as-prepared carbon-TiO2 nanotubes. As a result of the unique microstructure, this composite exhibits remarkable photocatalytic efficiency for the degradation of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine under visible light irradiation, indicating great potential for dealing with waste water containing organic pollutant. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.