Highly efficient visible light photocatalysis of tablet-like carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts via pyrolysis of cellulose/MIL-125(Ti) at low temperature

In this work, the tablet-like carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts (CM-x) were successfully fabricated via the pyrolysis of cellulose/MIL-125(Ti) at low temperature. All carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts are characteristic of strong response in the visible-light region. When the pyrolysis temperature is 350 ?, the degradation efficiency of tetracycline (TC) over carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts (CM-350) is 100% under optimal conditions (catalyst dosage = 0.5 g/L, TC concentration = 15 mg/L, pH = 6, T = 20 ?). The excellent photocatalytic performance is closely related to carbon doping, the residual organic groups, high BET surface area, abundant oxygen vacancies and low rate of carrier recombination. Superoxide radical (center dot O-2) and hole (h(+)) are the dominant active species in the entire photocatalytic process. The novel tablet-like carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalyst through the pyrolysis of cellulose/MIL-125(Ti) at low temperature will be more promising for rapid degradation of organic pollutants in water.