Visible light-assisted efficient degradation of dye pollutants with biomass-supported TiO2 hybrids

•A new OIH material TiO2-SB was synthesized by sol-gel method.•TiO2-SB showed visible light photocatalytic activity for MO degradation.•TiO2-SB could be excited by visible light due to OIH effect and carbon doping.

The objective of this work was to develop a novel organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterial from agricultural biomass waste for environmental applications. The sugarcane bagasse (SB) supported TiO2 hybrids were firstly synthesized via a sol-gel method. A series of characterizations were carried out to reveal the structures and components of obtained hybrids. Due to organic-inorganic hybrid (OIH) effect and element doping, the SB-TiO2 hybrid can expand its optical absorbance ranging from ultraviolet to visible light. The optimal hybrid catalyst prepared with SB doping amount of 2 g in 100 mL titanic gel and calcined at 200 °C was able to degradate 95.0% methyl orange (MO) in 5 h under visible light. This study will pave a new and facile pathway for novel visible light driven photocatalysts based on TiO2 modified by agricultural biomass waste.