Abstract
Cu-doped K2Ti6O13 (Cu–KTO) nanowires were prepared using a combination of sol–gel and hydrothermal methods to improve the photocatalytic and antibacterial performance of K2Ti6O13 (KTO) nanowires. The Cu–KTO nanowires maintained the monoclinic structure of KTO. The Cu2+ ions could enter into the lattice of KTO by substituting for certain Ti4+ ions and cause the formation of defects and oxygen vacancies. The UV–Visible absorption spectra showed that after Cu doping, the absorption edge of KTO moved to the visible region, indicating that the band gap decreased and the ability to absorb visible light was acquired. The photocatalytic properties of the Cu–KTO nanowires with different doping amounts were assessed by simulating the photodegradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated sunlight irradiation. The 1.0 mol% Cu–KTO nanowires showed the best photocatalytic performance, and 91% of RhB was decomposed by these nanowires (the catalyst dose was only 0.3 g/L) within 5 h. The performance of the Cu–KTO nanowires was much better than that of the KTO nanowires. The Cu–KTO nanowires also showed high antibacterial activity for Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) of up to 99.9%, which was higher than that of the pure KTO samples. Results proved that Cu doping is an effective means to develop multifunctional KTO nanomaterials. It can be used to degrade organic pollutants and remove harmful bacteria simultaneously in water environments.
Highlights
As human society rapidly grows, water pollution has become increasingly serious and has caused widespread concern [1]
Cu-doped K2Ti6O13 (Cu–KTO) can be successfully synthesized by the combination of sol–gel and hydrothermal methods
The crystal structure of Cu–KTO still maintains the monoclinic structure of K2 Ti6 O13, and Cu2+ ions methods
Summary
As human society rapidly grows, water pollution has become increasingly serious and has caused widespread concern [1]. Organic contaminants and harmful bacteria in industrial wastewater directly endanger the survival of organisms and humans [2]. The ecological imbalance between humans and natural systems is increasing due to the random disposal of industrial wastewater and the shortage of water sources [3]. Efficient and environmentally-friendly wastewater treatment technologies must be developed to cope with the increasing water pollution. Since 1972 [7], many reports have shown that photocatalytic technology is an effective method to remove organic contaminants and harmful bacteria from wastewater solutions [1,7,8,9,10,11].
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