In-Situ Synthesis of TiO(2)@GO Nanosheets for Polymers Degradation in a Natural Environment

Plastic photodegradation naturally takes 300–500 years, and their chemical degradation typically needs additional energy or causes secondary pollution. The main components of global plastic are polymers. Hence, new technologies are urgently required for the effective decomposition of the polymers in natural environments, which lays the foundation for this study on future plastic degradation. This study synthesizes the in-situ growth of TiO(2) at graphene oxide (GO) matrix to form the TiO(2)@GO photocatalyst, and studies its application in conjugated polymers’ photodegradation. The photodegradation process could be probed by UV-vis absorption originating from the conjugated backbone of polymers. We have found that the complete decomposition of various polymers in a natural environment by employing the photocatalyst TiO(2)@GO within 12 days. It is obvious that the TiO(2)@GO shows a higher photocatalyst activity than the TiO(2), due to the higher crystallinity morphology and smaller size of TiO(2), and the faster transmission of photogenerated electrons from TiO(2) to GO. The stronger fluorescence (FL) intensity of TiO(2)@GO compared to TiO(2) at the terephthalic acid aqueous solution indicates that more hydroxyl radicals (•OH) are produced for TiO(2)@GO. This further confirms that the GO could effectively decrease the generation of recombination centers, enhance the separation efficiency of photoinduced electrons and holes, and increase the photocatalytic activity of TiO(2)@GO. This work establishes the underlying basic mechanism of polymers photodegradation, which might open new avenues for simultaneously addressing the white pollution crisis in a natural environment.