Synthesis and characterization of porous TiO2-NS/Pt/GO aerogel: A novel three-dimensional composite with enhanced visible-light photoactivity in degradation of chlortetracycline

Chlortetracycline (CTC) has been widely applied as antibiotic for years and frequently detected in water. The presence of CTC not only leading inhibition of growth and toxic effect to specific species, but also raising concern for their potential influences of human health. In order to decline the negative effect and water pollution causing by the chlortetracycline (CTC), a novel aerogel named TPGA with 3D structure has been successfully fabricated using graphene oxide (GO), titanium dioxide nanosheets and platinum nanoparticles as raw materials. The structures and properties of this composite are carefully characterized by multiple methods, including TEM, SEM, SRD, EDS, FTIR, DRS and PL. Because of the increased separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, enlarged surface area and improved utilization of visible light, the TPGA composite exhibits an improved photocatalytic activity in the degradation of CTC under visible -light irradiation. In particular, while the m(Tio2-Ns/pt): m(GO) = 0.5, around 45% of CTC in the solution can be degraded in 90 min. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.