In situ sol-gel synthesis of anatase TiO2-MWCNTs nanocomposites and their photocatalytic applications

- TiO2-MWCNTs nanocomposite was synthesized by using simple in situ sol-gel method at room temperature.
- TiO2-MWCNTs nanocomposite shows red shift.
- Photodegradation of methyl orange under UV light and sunlight carried out successfully also.
- TiO2-MWCNTs nanocomposite show photo inactivation of bacteria under visible light.
- Synthesized nanocomposite is useful for various applications.

Visible light photoactive titania-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (TiO2-MWCNTs) nanocomposites were synthesized by in situ sol-gel method, in this TiO2 nanoparticles were decorated on the surface of MWCNTs. The XRD analysis shows good crystalline nature of synthesized nanocomposite. UV-vis DRS study confirms the red shift of nanocmposites with respect to the increasing content of MWCNTs. The photocatalytic activity has investigated by degradation of methyl orange dye under ultraviolet as well as sunlight irradiation and photo-inactivation of Bacillus subtilis under visible light irradiation. The MWCNTs exist in the nanocomposite was able to absorb a high amount of photon energy in the sunlight, driving effectively photochemical degradation reactions. In the photodegradation of methyl orange dye under sunlight as well as photo-inactivation of Bacillus substilis under visible light, significant enhancement in the degradation/inactivation reaction rate was observed with the TiO2-MWCNTs (0.5 wt.%), nanocomposite as compared to TiO2 NPs. The COD study confirms the environmentally benign nature of photodegraded dye solution. This work provides new insight for the fabrication of sunlight/visible active TiO2-MWCNTs nanocomposite photocatalyst for degradation of organic compounds and photo-inactivation of bacteria.