In situ synthesis of carbon doped TiO2 nanotubes with an enhanced photocatalytic performance under UV and visible light

- Carbon-TiO2 nanotubes are prepared by using surface-sulfonated PS fibers as templates.
- Carbon doping lowers the bandgap energy of TiO2.
- Carbon doping extends the visible light adsorption of TiO2 to a longer wavelength.
- The carbon-TiO2 nanotubes separate and transfer electron-hole pairs high efficiently.
- The carbon-TiO2 nanotubes show excellent property in photodegrading UDMH solution.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been widely investigated as a photocatalytic material. However, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 is suppressed by the large band gap and the recombination rate of the electron-hole pairs. Here, we propose an in situ synthetic strategy for the construct of carbon doped TiO2 (carbon-TiO2) nanotubes using surface-sulfonated layer of polystyrene fibers/titania composites as the precursors of TiO2 and carbon source via a facile route of calcination. This technique involves the preparation of morphology well controlled polystyrene fibers, sulfonation of PS fibers, sol-gel synthetic process of TiO2 and the pyrolysis of SSPS fibers in a N2 atmosphere at 450 °C. The morphology and structure of as-prepared carbon-TiO2 nanotubes are mainly characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS and UV-vis spectroscopy. All results confirm the carbon doping in the as-prepared carbon-TiO2 nanotubes. As a result of the unique microstructure, this composite exhibits remarkable photocatalytic efficiency for the degradation of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine under visible light irradiation, indicating great potential for dealing with waste water containing organic pollutant.

Carbon doped TiO2 nanotubes with an enhanced photocatalytic performance under UV and visible light were prepared by an in situ synthetic strategy. Carbon doping into TiO2 lattice lowered the band gap energy of TiO2 and improved visible light absorption, indicating great potential for dealing with waste water containing organic pollutant.191