Oxidation of crosslinked chitosan-epichlorohydrine film and its application with TiO2 for phenol removal

► Chitosan-epichlorohydrin (CS-ECH) was oxidized by using TiO2 and fluorescent lamp. ► Oxidation process formed carbonyl groups with partial elimination of amino groups. ► The transparent CS-ECH film transformed into brown color upon oxidation process. ► Removal of phenol was significantly improved by using TiO2/oxidized-CS-ECH system. ► TiO2/oxidized-CS-ECH has better photocatalytic efficiency than TiO2/oxidized CS.