The presence of anthropogenic materials (e.g., micropollutants, MPs) in aquatic systems is a serious threat to human and ecological health. Photocatalytic degradation of MPs via titanium oxide (TiO2) is a well-studied, potential solution but its efficacy is limited by a variety of environmental conditions, such as the presence of natural organic macromolecules (NOM). Here, we investigate the synthesis and performance of a novel photoreactive composite: a three-dimensional (3D), core (TiO2)-shell (crumpled graphene oxide) composite (TiGC) as a powerful tool for MP removal and degradation in complex aqueous environments. TiGC exhibited high adsorption capacity (maximum capacity 11.2 mg/g, 100 times larger than bare TiO2) and 30% enhancement of photodegradation (compared to bare TiO2) in experiments with a persistent MP model, carbamazepine (CBZ). Furthermore, TiGC performance was tested under various conditions of natural organic macromolecules (NOM) concentration, light intensity, CBZ initial concentration, and multiple cycles of CBZ addition, to illustrate that TiGC performance is stable over a range of field conditions (including NOM). The enhanced and stable performance of TiCG to adsorb and degrade CBZ in water extends from its core-shell composite nanostructure: the crumpled graphene oxide shell provides an adsorptive surface that favors CBZ sorption over NOM and optical and electronic interactions between TiO2 and graphene oxide result in higher hydroxyl radical yields than bare TiO2.

TiO2 (core)/crumpled graphene oxide (shell) nanocomposites show enhanced photodegradation of carbamazepine

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.