Multifunctional and recyclable TiO2 hybrid sponges for efficient sorption, detection, and photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants

Abstract

Developing techniques for monitoring and removing organic pollutants such as solvents and dyes in environmental media is a very important task nowadays. To get rid of the pollutants, efficient materials that can sorb, detect, and decompose such compounds have been consistently sought after. Herein, we demonstrate a simple and inexpensive method to fabricate eco-friendly multifunctional and recyclable TiO2 hybrid sponges composed of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) network and functional nanoparticles. Water-soluble crystals were used to construct porous templates and TiO2 nanoparticles were additionally integrated into the templates where liquid PDMS was filled. After curing the PDMS, the TiO2 integrated hybrid sponges were finally obtained by dissolving the templates with water. By using the fabricated hybrid sponges, sorbed organic pollutants were qualitatively detected via molecular-specific Raman signals. Furthermore, we showed the recyclability by achieving photocatalytic decomposition of the sorbed pollutants induced by the TiO2 nanoparticles. These results are instructive for further applications and also contribute toward solving problems relating to environmental pollution.