TiO modified orthocortical and paracortical cells having enhanced photocatalytic degradation and photoreduction properties.

In this study, cortical cells resultant from wool fibers were loaded with TiO nanoparticles in a hydrothermal process and were then engineered as organic-nonorganic hybrid composite photocatalysts for both photodegradation of organic dyes and photoreduction of heavy metal ions. The microstructure and photocatalytic properties of TiO modified cortical cells (i.e. both orthocortical and paracortical cells) were systematically characterized using a series of analytical techniques including FESEM, TEM, element analysis, Mott-Schottky curve, BET specific surface area, Zeta potentials, as well as XRD, FTIR, XPS, DRS, PL, UPS, EDS and ESR spectra. Their photocatalytic performance and trapping experiments of the TiO modified cortical cells were measured in the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) dye and Congo Red (CR) dye as well as the photoreduction of Cr(VI) ions under visible light irradiation. It was found that anatase TiO nanoparticles were chemically grafted on the surface of the two cortical cells via O-Ti/O-Ti bonds, and that TiO nanoparticles were formed inside the orthocortical cells in the hydrothermal process. The TiO modified orthocortical and paracortical cells possessed much higher photocatalytic efficiency than the commercially available TiO nanoparticle powder, Degussa P25, in the photodegradation of cationic MB dye and photoreduction of Cr(VI) ions, while their photocatalytic efficiency in the photodegradation of anionic CR dye is smaller because of their greater negative Zeta potentials and photogenerated holes as the main reactive radical species. In comparison with the TiO modified paracortical cells, the higher photocatalytic efficiency of the TiO modified orthocortical cells was demonstrated in the photodegradation of MB dye solution and this might be due to both the S-doped TiO nanoparticles infiltrated into the naturally hydrophilic orthocortical cells and the primary reactive radical species of photogenerated holes being trapped in the cells.