Nanostructured Composite of Starch/Silica Hybrid Decorated with Titanium Oxide Nanoparticles for Photocatalytic, Sonocatalytic, and Sonophotocatalytic

Abstract

AbstractNanocomposite‐based heterostructure plays an important role in both industrial and advanced applications. A series of TiO2 nanoparticles decorated on silica/starch hybrid material (TiO2(x)@SiO2(x)@Starch nanocomposites) is synthesized using a facile sol–gel method. The intrinsic characteristics of the as‐prepared nanocomposites are studied using a variety of techniques. In this study, the degradation of paracetamol (PCT) is investigated in the presence of TiO2(x)@SiO2(x)@Starch nanocomposites. Photocatalysis and sonocatalysis systems are used separately and simultaneously in presence of sunlight and low‐power ultrasound. The adsorption results are essential factor in the degradation process. The non‐linear transform of the kinetics is further used to determine the characteristic parameters of TiO2(x)@SiO2(x)@Starch nanocomposites. The obtained results confirm that the experimental kinetic data follow the pseudo‐first order model in photocatalytic, sonocatalytic, and sonophotocatalytic processes but the rate constant of sonophotocatalysis is higher than the sum of it at photocatalysis and sonocatalysis process. This work develops a new sono‐photo active hybrid process for potential application in wastewater treatment. Additionally, the prepared TiO2 nanoparticles with silica/starch hybrid material perform antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial activity is increased parallel with the TiO2 percent. The broad‐spectrum antimicrobial activity of nanocomposites is noticed at the highest percentage of TiO2 in TiO2(0.8)@SiO2(0.2)@Starch.