Synthesis of new composite based on TiO2 immobilized in glass fibers for photo-catalytic degradation of chlorobenzene in aqueous solutions.

Abstract In this study photo-catalytic degradation of chlorobenzene from aqueous solutions using CQD decorated Fe-doped TiO2 immobilized in Glass Fibers (GF) was investigated. Characteristics of the synthesized photo-catalyst were determined by EF-SEM, EDX, BET, XRD, FTIR, and DRS analysis. Additionally, DRS analysis demonstrated adding CQD to the TiO2–Fe reduced its band gap energy from 2.96 eV to 2.91eV, while that was 3.10 eV for undoped TiO2. Among that three photo-catalysts, GF/CQD(4.5 wt%) decorated Fe–TiO2 composite had performance nearly 100.0%, when pH was 5 and low concentration of chlorobenzene. In addition, GF/CQD(4.5 wt%) decorated Fe–TiO2 composite show it could be well applied for five times and with a little reduction on the performance. Also, no detectable Fe found to be released from the composite. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for E. coli bacteria was 12.2 mg L−1 of chlorobenzene residual. Our findings show the catalyst was successful for chlorobenzene removal in the wastewater effluent. In conclusion, present hybrid composite could successfully and safely remove chlorobenzene from synthetic aqueous solution.