Interface template synthesis of zein-based amorphous TiO2 composite microcapsules with enhanced photo-catalysis

In order to further enhance the application field of zein-based microcapsule. Zein-based amorphous TiO 2 composite microcapsules (ZTCMs) were innovatively prepared from zein , tetra butyl ortho titanate (TBOT) and PEO 106 PPO 70 PEO 106 (F127) via interface template synthesis . The Effects of TBOT amount on ZTCMs structures and photo-catalytic performances were mainly investigated. Chemical structure and microstructure of the obtained composite microcapsules were characterized mainly by fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS). The results show ZTCMs exhibited evident hollow structure with titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) wrapped in the outer layer. The average size of ZTCMs 300 was approximately 4 µm, which increased as the increase of TBOT dosage. Significantly, ZTCMs showed excellent photo-catalytic ability on dyes, red wine and coffee alike. The degradation rate of Rhodamine B (RB) was more than 80% after irradiation for 5 h under sunlight. This study provides a facile method to fabricate natural-based photo-catalytic material, which will be a good candidate in many fields such as medicine, food packaging, leather and textile.