Crystallinity and lowering band gap induced visible light photocatalytic activity of TiO2/CS (Chitosan) nanocomposites

R Saravanan; J Aviles; F Gracia; E Mosquera; Vinod Kumar Gupta

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.11.125

Crystallinity and lowering band gap induced visible light photocatalytic activity of TiO₂/CS (Chitosan) nanocomposites

Int J Biol Macromol. 2018 Apr 1:109:1239-1245. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.11.125. Epub 2017 Nov 23.

Authors

R Saravanan¹, J Aviles², F Gracia³, E Mosquera⁴, Vinod Kumar Gupta⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Materials, University of Chile, Beauchef 851 6th floor, Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: saravanan3.raj@gmail.com.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Materials, University of Chile, Beauchef 851 6th floor, Santiago, Chile.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Materials, University of Chile, Beauchef 851 6th floor, Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: fgracia@ing.uchile.cl.
⁴ Departamento de Física, Universidad del Valle, A.A. 25360, Cali, Colombia.
⁵ Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 29175525
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.11.125

Abstract

The inhibition of electrons-holes recombination and enhancement of visible light photocatalytic activity were accomplished by the synthesized TiO₂/CS nanocomposites system. In this present work, the different weight ratio of TiO₂ and chitosan (75:25, 50:50 and 25:75) nanocomposites were synthesized via two-step method. After that, the existing functional groups, size and structure of the nanocomposites system were characterized via FT-IR, TEM and XRD measurements. The band gap of the prepared materials and its excitation and emission spectra were elevated through UV-vis and PL analyses. Moreover, the MO and MB degradation capability of the synthesized TiO₂/CS nanocomposites was optimized, and the outcomes are described in detail.

Keywords: Nanocomposites; Photocatalyst; Visible light.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Chitosan / chemistry*
Light*
Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry
Nanocomposites / chemistry*
Nanocomposites / ultrastructure
Photochemical Processes*
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Titanium / chemistry*
X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

titanium dioxide
Chitosan
Titanium