Photocatalyst of organic pollutants decomposition: TiO2/glass fiber cloth composites

• TGFC with TiO2 layers was supported by a piece of woven glass fibers.
• Photocatalytic activity of TGFC-3 was the best among TGFC-1–6.
• The thickness of a TiO2 layer is about 0.1-0.2 μm by estimating.
• TGFC is convenient to be fixed in sewage treatment pool.

Herein TiO2 coated on glass fiber cloth (TiO2/glass fiber cloth, TGFC) was synthesised by sol-gel method. We demonstrated the property about TGFC of photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants under ultraviolet-visible (UV–vis) light and sunlight. Glass fiber cloth (GFC) was chosen as the support of TiO2 in order to improve the practical applications for water purification. TGFC-1–6 were characterized by ERSEM, XRD and XPS. Photocatalytic decomposition of crystal violet (CV) was carried out to investigate the photocatalytic activity of TGFC. The efficiency of TGFC-3 was the best. And its photocatalytic decomposition rate of the second to fifth cycle was higher than the first cycle. The photocatalytic decomposition rate of TGFC-3 was 85% under sunlight from 8:00–14:00. We could design and regulate the shape of TGFC and estimate the area, weight and thickness of TiO2, more easily than glass fibers. TGFC is suitable for photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants in the water, especially to be fixed in sewage treatment pool and reused.

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