Abstract:

The nano-TiO2 sol was prepared at room temperature through hydrolysis of tetra-n-butyl titanate, and then loaded on the surface of cotton fabric using finishing method, thus obtained nano-TiO2 finished fabrics, that were characterized and used as photocatalysts for oxidative degradation of Rhodamine B in water. Some factors affecting degradation such as molar ratio of water to n-butyl titanate, aging time and weighting percentage of the nano-TiO2 finished fabrics were investigated with respect to the decoloration value, and reuse of nano-TiO2 finished fabrics and degradation reaction kinetics of Rhodamine B were also examined. The results showed that increasing molar ratio of water to n-butyl titanate led to the smaller particle size and more homogeneous nano-TiO2 sol during its preparation, and the nano-TiO2 sol could form an anatase TiO2 nano-crystalline film on the surface of cotton fabrics through padding-curing process. Increasing the weighting percentage of the nano-TiO2 finished fabrics significantly accelerated dye degradation, and increasing molar ratio of water to n-butyl titanate and aging time could also improve the photocatalytic activity of the nano-TiO2 finished fabrics. In addition, the nano-TiO2 finished fabrics could be reused for dye degradation, and the degradation of Rhodamine B in the presence of nano-TiO2 finished fabrics followed the pseudo-first order kinetics.