Composite nanoarchitectonics with TiO2 nanocrystals and superior thin Ti3C2Tx nanosheets towards efficient NO removal

Abstract

Accordion-like Ti3C2Tx MXene supplied a possibility to construct two-dimensional composites with novel performance. In this paper, few-layered Ti3C2Tx MXene was created via a chemical etching strategy. The oxidation in-situ using a powerful alkaline solution resulted successfully in TiO2 nanocrystals grown on Ti3C2Tx nanosheets. The alkaline treatment adjusted terminations of the Ti3C2Tx MXene and controlled the oxidation degree by changing temperature. The ratio of Ti3C2Tx and TiO2 was finally optimized. Because of Ti3C2Tx nanosheets with well conductivity and excellent light absorption as well as TiO2 nanocrystal arrays on Ti3C2Tx nanosheets with a high specific surface area and more active sites, TiO2/Ti3C2Tx composites revealed excellent photocatalystic activity, especially for NO removal. The improvement of separation and transfer efficiency of phootogenerated carriers is ascribed to the microstructure of TiO2/Ti3C2Tx composites. The composite sample synthesized at 75 °C revealed the best NO removal efficiency, in which 70% of NO was removed at a concentration of 600 ppb. This study offers a new thought for preparing high performance MXene-based photocatalysts.