Sub-20-nm anatase TiO2 anchored on hollow carbon spheres for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of reactive red 195.

ABSTRACT

Herein, hollow carbon sphere (HCS)-supported titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (sub-20-nm; HCS@TiO2)-based composites are rationally designed and fabricated via a facile wet-chemistry strategy. The introduction of an HCS, which acts as a conductive substrate, improves the separation efficiency of photogenerated hole/electron pairs (h+/e-) from TiO2 because photogenerated electrons are transferred to conductive carbon skeleton. Due to the three-dimensional spherical structure and excellent hydrophilicity of the carbon skeletons, low-density HCS with outstanding conductivity not only accelerate the separation of photogenerated h+/e- pairs from TiO2 but also improve the adsorption performance of the soluble reactive red 195 molecules (RR195) on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles. These properties of HCS@TiO2 composites enable efficient photocatalytic degradation of RR195. The obtained results indicated that HCS@TiO2 composites (80 wt% TiO2) achieved the best photocatalytic degradation performance with higher photodegradation rate of 97% than pure TiO2 nanoparticles (86%). This study offers a new pathway for the design and preparation of novel photocatalysts to achieve efficient degradation of degrading organic pollutants.