Synthesis and Photocatalytic Sterilization Performance of SA/TiO2

• Published in: Journal of inorganic and organometallic polymers and materials Vol. 30; no. 9; pp. 3378 - 3387
• Main Authors: Ai, Cuiling, Wu, Xuefang, Ke, Yuting, Lei, Yingjie, Shao, Xiangwen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Anatase; Catalysts; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; E coli; Ethanol; Inorganic Chemistry; Nanocomposites; Organic Chemistry; Particulate composites; Photocatalysis; Polymer Sciences; Sol-gel processes; Sorbic acid; Sterilization; Titanium; Titanium dioxide; Ultraviolet radiation; Sterilization activity; TiO; In situ modification; Sorbic acid
• ISSN: 1574-1443; 1574-1451
• DOI: 10.1007/s10904-020-01491-z

The photocatalyst sorbic acid (SA)/titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) was successfully synthesized by sol–gel method and characterized. The composite exhibited regularly spherical particles with the size of 50 nm and the specific surface area of 90.3 m 2  g −1 , furthermore, it showed mesoporous structure and significantly improved dispersion. SA was grafted on TiO 2 surface by –COOTi and TiO 2 existed as pure anatase phase in the composite. The addition of SA made the band gap of TiO 2 increased from 3.03 to 3.35 eV, which indicting that the composite exhibited a strong response to the ultraviolet light. The optimum preparation parameters of the catalyst were as follows: n(Ti):n(SA) = 1:0.05, ethanol 60 mL, glacial acetic acid 40 mL, hydrothermal temperature 180 °C, hydrothermal time 12 h. The composite could reach the 4.31 log reduction of E. coli , with the optimum catalyst dosage of 0.7 g L −1 , irradiated by UV light for 60 min. SA/TiO 2 was an environmentally friendly, non-toxic and safe sterilized nanocomposite material appropriate for future bactericidal applications, providing a new way to effectively increase the dispersion of TiO 2 particles to achieve superior photocatalytic sterilization efficiency.