Photocatalytic disinfection of water by bacterial cellulose/N–F co-doped TiO2 under fluorescent light

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The hybrid nanocomposite material of bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers and titaniumdioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles with improved visible light sensitivity was developed by doping nitrogen (N) and fluorine (F) on TiO2 nanoparticles embedded on BC nanofibers. To synthesize TiO2 nanoparticles on BC produced by Acetobacter xylinum (TISTR 975), titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) was used as a titanium source and was directly hydrolyzed on BC nanofibers. After providing heat via the reflux technique to BC/TiO2 pellicle, the crystalline structure of TiO2 was changed to an anatase form on a three dimensional network structure of BC confirmed by XRD. Nitrogen (N) and fluorine (F) were successfully doped into TiO2 nanoparticles by using NH4F as the source of N and F (BC/N–F-co-doped TiO2). The TEM results showed that the average particle size of BC/N–F-co-doped TiO2 was smaller than the BC matrix containing none of the co-doped TiO2 (BC/TiO2) and N-doped TiO2 (BC/N–TiO2). In addition, BC/N–F-co-doped TiO2 demonstrated the high efficiency of photocatalytic disinfection activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria under fluorescence light. Nevertheless, the photocatalytic antibacterial activity of N–F-co-doped TiO2 also depended on the type of bacteria, and degree of N–F-co-doped TiO2.