PreparationofTiO2NanoparticlesCoatedCottonFibersatLowTemperatureandTheirPhotocatalyticActivity

TiO2nanoparticlescoatedcottonfibercompositewassuccessfullypreparedbyusingasol-gelmethodatlowtemperature(about100℃)usingtetrabutyl-titanate[Ti(OBu)4]asrawmaterial.ThepreparationoftheTiO2colloidandthecompositeweredescribed.ThepropertiesofresultingmaterialswerecharacterizedbySEMandXRD,thephotocatalyticdegradationperformancewastestedusingmethyleneblue(MB)asthetargetpollutantinaqueoussolution.TheresultsshowedthattheamorphousTiO2nanoparticlesweredistributedevenlyontheoutersurfacesofcottonfibers,whichshowsefficientphotocatalyticpropertieswhenexposedtoUVlight,thedegradationrateofMBreached95.35%undertheconditionsofcatalystdosage2.5g/L,MBconcentration50mg/L,irradiationtime120min,andpH10,andthephotocatalyticactivityofTiO2/cottonfibersremainedabove90%ofitsactivityas-preparedafterbeingusedfourtimes,thedegradationrateofMBcouldreach88.78%whenirradiationtimewas120min.ThephotocatalyticdegradationofMBcouldbeproperlydescribedbythefirst-orderkineticlaw.BycomparisonoftheremovalratesofMBwithandwithoutUVlight,itcouldbeaffirmedthatthedisappearanceofMBwasduetophotodegradationratherthanadsorptiononcottonfibers.