In Situ Synthesis and Photocatalytic Properties of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on Cotton Fabrics

Abstract

In this paper, nanosized titanium dioxide as catalysts for degrading dye wastewater was in situ synthesized on the surface of cotton fabrics used tetrabutyl titanate as precursor. The morphology and structure of prepared catalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectrometer, and X-ray diffraction. The characterization results showed that anatase nanosized titanium dioxide was successfully synthesized in situ on cotton fabrics and had excellent dispersibility. Subsequently, the effects of irradiation time, catalyst dosage, dye concentration, initial pH value of dye, hydrogen peroxide dosage, and dye type on dye degradation rate were investigated one by one by a photocatalytic performance test. The test results indicated that the degradation rates of methylene blue, methyl orange, and rhodamine B were 90.4%, 81.4%, and 58.3%, separately, at catalyst dosage of 4.8 g/L, initial dye concentration of 10 mg/L, pH of 7, and hydrogen peroxide dosage of 0.24 mol/L, after 4 h of UV irradiation.