Multi-cycle photocatalytic degradation of bezafibrate by a cast polyvinyl alcohol/titanium dioxide (PVA/TiO2) hybrid film

• PVA/TiO2 photocatalyst provided a highly active and recyclable catalyst for water purification.
• The photocatalytic degradation efficiency increased with the increase of reuse cycle.
• Technically the hybrid film was fairly stable under the long-term irradiation of the work.

The polyvinyl alcohol/titanium dioxide (PVA/TiO2) photocatalyst was prepared using a solution casting method. The PVA/TiO2 hybrid films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The photodegradation of bezafibrate showed that the PVA/TiO2 film exhibited efficient photocatalytic activity and excellent recycle stability. The photocatalytic efficiency of the PVA/TiO2 film increased with increase of reuse cycle. By comparison with other immobilized TiO2 composition (pumice/TiO2 and porous glass bead/TiO2) and P25 suspension, PVA/TiO2 film exhibited the highest recyclable property.

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