Free-standing films of titanate nanosheets as efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts for environmental application

•A free-standing photocatalytic film was assembled with titanate nanosheets.•This film possesses excellent flexibility and transmittance.•The film exhibits visible light absorption with –OOH modification.•The film shows high activity using an indoor fluorescent lamp.•The catalyst has a high stability for dye degradation.

We herein report the reassembly of individual titanate nanosheets (TNSs) that were exfoliated from layered titanates to form a free-standing photocatalytic film by vacuum filtration. This TNSs film was characterized with high orientation, as well as excellent light transparency and flexibility. With the presence of H2O2, an extremely high activity and stability of the TNSs film were achieved for photo-decomposing Rhodamine B (RhB) using a 9 W fluorescent lamp. A possible mechanism was proposed that the modification of –OOH groups enlarged the spectral region to visible light and high separation rate of photogenerated carriers was realized by transferring electrons on conduction band to H2O2. The trapping experiments of active species demonstrated that holes on valence band are the main oxidant species.