Rich oxygen vacancies-induced superior photocatalytic activities of TiO2(B) ultrathin nanosheeets for the degradation of doxycycline hydrochloride under visible light

Abstract

Preparing high efficiency photocatalysts to achieve rapid the degradation of doxycycline hydrochloride (DC) under visible light irradiation still remains a challenge and goal. Herein, the TiO2(B) ultrathin nanosheeets with rich oxygen vacancies (TiO2(B)-OVs) are designed and constructed via a simple solvothermal combined with high temperature calcination strategy. The as-obtained TiO2(B)-OVs (20 mg) as photocatalyst, is able to rapidly remove the ∼93 % of DC pollutant (20 mg/L, 100 mL) in 40 min under visible light. The superior photocatalytic performances are attributed to the ultrathin nanosheet structure with rich oxygen vacancies, which is beneficial to enhance the adsorption for reactant molecules and heighten the transfer efficiency of photo-excited carriers.