Highly efficient visible light photocatalysis of tablet-like carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts via pyrolysis of cellulose/MIL-125(Ti) at low temperature

In this work, the tablet-like carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts (CM-x) were successfully fabricated via the pyrolysis of cellulose/MIL-125(Ti) at low temperature. All carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts are characteristic of strong response in the visible-light region. When the pyrolysis temperature is 350 ​°C, the degradation efficiency of tetracycline (TC) over carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts (CM-350) is 100% under optimal conditions (catalyst dosage ​= ​0.5 ​g/L, TC concentration ​= ​15 ​mg/L, pH ​= ​6, T ​= ​20 ​°C). The excellent photocatalytic performance is closely related to carbon doping, the residual organic groups, high BET surface area, abundant oxygen vacancies and low rate of carrier recombination. Superoxide radical (•O2−) and hole (h+) are the dominant active species in the entire photocatalytic process. The novel tablet-like carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalyst through the pyrolysis of cellulose/MIL-125(Ti) at low temperature will be more promising for rapid degradation of organic pollutants in water.