Photocatalytic Performance of SiO(2)/CNOs/TiO(2) to Accelerate the Degradation of Rhodamine B under Visible Light

A silicon dioxide/carbon nano onions/titanium dioxide (SiO(2)/CNOs/TiO(2)) composite was synthesized by a simple sol-gel method and characterized by the methods of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-Vis DRS). In this work, the photocatalytic activity of the SiO(2)/CNOs/TiO(2) photocatalyst was assessed by testing the degradation rate of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light. The results indicated that the samples exhibited the best photocatalytic activity when the composite consisted of 3% CNOs and the optimum dosage of SiO(2)/CNOs/TiO(2)(3%) was 1.5 g/L as evidenced by the highest RhB degradation rate (96%). The SiO(2)/CNOs/TiO(2) composite greatly improved the quantum efficiency of TiO(2). This work provides a new option for the modification of subsequent nanocomposite oxide nanoparticles.