Highly-Efficient and Visible Light Photocatalytical Degradation of Organic Pollutants Using TiO(2)-Loaded on Low-Cost Biomass Husk

A composite composing of TiO(2) nanoparticles load on biomass rice husk (RH) is developed by directly growing TiO(2) nanoparticles on RH. The in-situ growth of the nanocrystals on RH is achieved by a low-cost and one-step homogeneous precipitation. Rapid hydrolysis proceeds at 90 °C by using ammonium fluotitanate and urea to facilitate the selective growth of TiO(2). The method provides an easy access to the TiO(2)-RH composite with a strong interaction between TiO(2) nanoparticles and the underlying RH. The structure and composition of TiO(2)-RH are characterized by using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. TiO(2) nanoparticles-RH exhibits a good photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. The results show that 92% of methyl orange (20 mg L(−1)) can be degraded within three hours in visible light. The catalytic activity of the composite is not reduced after 6 cycles, and it still reaches 81% after 6 cycles. The enhanced performance is ascribed to the suitable particle size the good dispersibility. It is expected that the high photocatalytical performance and the cost-effective composite presented here will inspire the development of other high-performance photocatalysts.