The Photocatalytical Properties of RGO/TiO2 Coated Fabrics

Magdalena Olak-Kucharczyk,Grażyna Szczepańska,Marcin H Kudzin,Marcin Pisarek

doi:10.3390/coatings10111041

Abstract

The aim of this work was to immobilize reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) on the surface of selected fibrous structures. Textile fabrics made of cotton (CO) and polyamide (PA) were used as a carrier. The following modification methods were applied: coating for modification of PA and dip-coating for modification of CO. In the dip-coating method, no auxiliaries were used, which is a huge advantage. The RGO/TiO2 coated fabrics were characterized using several techniques: ultraviolet–visible (UV–VIS) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The obtained results showed the immobilization of RGO and TiO2 on the fabrics. Raw fabrics absorb much less radiation than coated ones, which is associated with strong absorption of radiation by applied modifiers (RGO and TiO2). Photocatalytic activity of functionalized textiles was determined using aqueous phenol solutions. Phenol removal efficiency obtained for RGO/TiO2 coated CO and RGO/TiO2 coated PA was 51% and 46%, respectively. The hydroxyl radicals play a major role in the phenol photocatalytic degradation. The phenol removal efficiency in the fifth cycle was higher (about 14% and 8% for RGO/TiO2 coated CO and RGO/TiO2 coated PA, respectively) compared to the first cycle.

Highlights

In recent years, surface modification, including surface modification of various textile structures, has attracted the attention of scientists
The light-absorbance properties of the raw and coated fabrics were analyzed by UV–VIS spectroscopy
UV–VIS diffuse reflectance spectra measurement performed by Landi Jr. et al [43] showed that the addition of more reduced graphene oxide (RGO) coatings onto the cotton fabric induce the increase of absorbance in the UV region

Summary

Introduction

Surface modification, including surface modification of various textile structures, has attracted the attention of scientists. Surface modification of textiles usually leads to changes in their properties. The development of photocatalytic textiles is mainly associated with their covering with photocatalyst coatings. Due to the immobilization of photocatalysts on a proper carrier, the problem of their removal from the reaction solution after the photocatalytic process can be solved. One of the best known and most studied photocatalysts is titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) which is characterized by relatively low toxicity, chemical stability and low cost [13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. Easy and fast recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and limited photoactivity in the visible light range, which leads to lower photocatalytic performance, are the disadvantages of this catalyst. To increase the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 , doping with

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