Preparation and application of poly(zwitterionic ionic liquid) to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2

A novel composite material PIL@TiO 2 was synthesized by sol–gel method using zwitterionic ionic liquid (1-(3-sulfonic group) propyl-3-ethylimidazole). TiO 2 was uniformly loaded on PIL (poly(1-(3-sulfonic group) propyl-3-ethylimidazole)). The large specific surface area, unique microspore structure, negative effect, and synergistic effect were caused by PIL. PIL@TiO 2 can effectively improve the separation efficiency of the electron–hole photogeneration. The electron–hole pair and · OH play an important role in the photo-degradation. The structure of dye molecule is also an influencing factor for the degradation capacity. After five cycle experiments, PIL@TiO 2 still exhibited excellent photocatalytic efficiency to dye molecules and its photocatalytic efficiency is better than that of P-25 (nanoscale TiO 2 ) in the methyl orange and Rhodamine B solutions.