Nanoarchitecture of a TiC@TiO Hybrid for Photocatalytic Antibiotic Degradation and Hydrogen Evolution: Stability, Kinetics, and Mechanistic Insights.

Designing of a visible-light-driven semiconductor-based heterojunction with suitable band alignment and well-defined interfacial contact is considered to be an effective strategy for the transformation of solar-to-chemical energy and environmental remediation. In this context, MXenes have received tremendous attention in the research community due to their merits of abundant derivatives, elemental composition, excellent metallic conductivity, and surface termination groups. Meanwhile, a facile synthetic strategy for MXene-derived TiO nanocomposites with stable framework and higher photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation still remains a challenge for researchers. Herein, we report a novel synthetic strategy of preparing a two-dimensional TiC@TiO nanohybrid by a facile reflux method under acidic conditions. In this oxidation reaction, protonation of the hydroxyl terminal group of MXene creates Ti more electrophilic and susceptible to an oxidative nucleophilic addition reaction with the presence of both water and oxygen. The physicochemical properties of the nanohybrid TiC@TiO were verified by varieties of characterization techniques. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis specifically elucidated the intimate interfacial interaction between TiC and TiO. The optimized TiC@TiO-48 h photocatalyst exhibited the highest tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH, 90% in 90 min) degradation efficiency in comparison to pristine TiO with a rate constant () of 0.02463 min. The major contribution of O and OH radicals throughout photocatalytic TCH degradation was confirmed by the trapping experiment. Moreover, the photocatalyst showed the highest hydrogen generation rate of 140.8 μmol h along with an apparent conversion efficiency of 2.2%. The excellent photocatalytic activity of TiC@TiO originated from the superior electrical conductivity of cocatalyst TiC, which facilitated spatial photogenerated e/h separation and transfer at the TiC MXene@TiO interface. Overall, this research work will describe a promising protocol of designing MXene-derived photocatalysts toward efficient environmental remediation and wastewater treatment applications.