Flexible TiO2/PVDF/g-C3N4 Nanocomposite with Excellent Light Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract

As the world faces water shortage and pollution crises, the development of novel visible light photocatalysts to purify water resources is urgently needed. Over the past decades, most of the reported photocatalysts have been in powder or granular forms, creating separation and recycling difficulties. To overcome these challenges, a flexible and recyclable heterostructured TiO2/polyvinylidene fluoride/graphitic carbon nitride (TiO2/PVDF/g-C3N4) composite was developed by combining electrospinning, sintering and hydrothermal methods. In the composite, PVDF was used as a support template for removing and separating the photocatalyst from solution. Compared with pure TiO2, the TiO2/PVDF/g-C3N4 composite exhibited the extended light capture range of TiO2 into the visible light region. The photogenerated carriers were efficiently transferred and separated at the contact interface between TiO2 and g-C3N4 under visible light irradiation, which consequently increased the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst. In addition, the flexible composites exhibited excellent self-cleaning properties, and the dye on the photocatalysts was completely degraded by the as-prepared materials. Based on the intrinsic low cost, recyclability, absorption of visible light, facile synthesis, self-cleaning properties and good photocatalytic performances of the composite, the photocatalyst is expected to be used for water treatment.

Upscaling of Electrospinning Technology and the Application of Functionalized PVDF-HFP@TiO2 Electrospun Nanofibers for the Rapid Photocatalytic Deactivation of Bacteria on Advanced Face Masks

“…Moreover, focusing on the tensile properties, both the tensile strength and modulus of the PVDF-HFP @TiO 2 membrane (Table S2) proved to be almost unaffected by prolonged UV-A light exposure for 1 h and 5 h. In particular, their values remain quite stable at around 6.2 MPa and 100.0 MPa, respectively, thus demonstrating their low tendency to degrade over a prolonged irradiation process (Figure 4e). In the literature, photocatalytic degradation tests of contaminated waters revealed a high stability of the PVDF-TiO 2 electrospun membrane after a long exposure time to UV radiation [34,36,[108][109][110]. The photocatalytic performances of these functionalized PVDF-based electrospun membranes were observed to remain quite stable after several repeated cycles under UV radiation in a water contaminant, thus indicating that TiO 2 NPs were tightly embedded on the fiber surface, as a consequence of the ES process [34,109,110].…”

“…The TiO 2 anatase can be activated by means of the irradiation of light with energy higher than its band gap (~3.06 eV), thus promoting the formation of excited electron-hole pairs [29]. Furthermore, the optical performance of TiO 2 NPs has been shown to remain quite stable and to provide photocatalytic activity in the UV range when also embedded in polymer-based electrospun membranes [22,[36][37][38][39][40]. The Poly (Vinylidene Fluoride) PVDF proved to be an excellent polymer material support to implement TiO 2 NPs as well as other active metal oxide nanomaterials on the electrospun-based nanofibers, by maintaining their optimal surface area and photocatalytic properties [41].…”

Simultaneous Enhancement of Photocatalytic Bactericidal Activity and Strength Properties of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene Plastic Via a Facile Preparation with Silane/TiO2

“…Polymeric membranes with TiO 2 showed excellent degradation of pollutants in water due to active sites of TiO 2 available for interacting with photons [8]. Moreover, in-situ-formed granular TiO 2 on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fiber with graphitic carbon nitride exhibited excellent self-cleaning properties [9].…”