Visible-light-driven Oxygen Vacancy and Carbon Doping of C@TiO2-x Photocatalyst for Enhanced Pollutants Degradation Performance

Graphical C@TiO 2-x photocatalyst with oxygen vacancy and carbon doping co-structure prepared by heat treatment is reported. It provides the possibility of regulating semiconductor photocatalysts to degrade pollutants in wastewater based on an integrated strategy. Oxygen Vacancy (OVs) and carbon doping of the photocatalyst body will significantly enhance the photocatalytic efficiency. However, synchronous regulation of these two aspects is challenging. In this paper, a novel C@TiO 2-x photocatalyst was designed by coupling the surface defect and doping engineering of titania, which can effectively remove rhodamine B (RhB) and has a relatively high performance with wide pH range, high photocatalytic activity and good stability. Within 90 minutes, the photocatalytic degradation rate of RhB by C@TiO 2-x (94.1 % at 20 mg/L) is 28 times higher than that of pure TiO 2 . Free radical trapping experiments and electron spin resonance techniques reveal that superoxide radicals (⋅O 2− ) and photogenerated holes (h + ) play key roles in the photocatalytic degradation of RhB. This study demonstrates the possibility of regulating photocatalysts to degrade pollutants in wastewater based on an integrated strategy.