Visible light photocatalytic activity of TiO2/D-PVA for MO degradation

A novel visible light (VL) active photocatalyst (TiO2/D-PVA) was prepared in one portion of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and Ti(OH)4 by means of hydrothermal method, and the relationship between the prepared conditions and VL photocatalytic activity was investigated. The synthesized photocatalyst was characterized by XRD, UV–vis, XPS, FTIR and EPR. The results show that PVA was dehydrated to produce conjugated unsaturated D-PVA. The VL photocatalytic activity was attributed to the interaction between D-PVA and TiO2. The TiO2/D-PVA, synthesized with the 1:10 feed ratio of PVA to TiO2 at 180 °C, exhibited a significant VL activity for the Methyl orange (MO) degradation. The degradation rate fit the characteristic of apparent first-order kinetics. The mechanism of MO degradation was also proposed.