Strainer-Separable TiO2 on Halloysite Nanocomposite-Embedded Alginate Capsules with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity for Degradation of Organic Dyes

Abstract

Photocatalysis driven by natural sunlight is an attractive approach to removing pollutants from wastewater. Although TiO2–based photocatalysts using various support nano-materials with high catalytic activity and reusability have been developed for purifying wastewater, the centrifugal separation methods used for the nanocatalysts limit their use for treating large amounts of water. Here, we prepared a TiO2 nano-catalyst supported on a halloysite nanotube (HNT)-encapsulated alginate capsule (TiO2@HNT/Alcap) to recapture the catalysts rapidly without centrifugation. The structure of TiO2@HNT/Alcap was characterized by X-ray diffraction, SEM, and TGA. In our system, the combination of HNTs and alginate capsules (Alcaps) improved the efficiency of adsorption of organic pollutants to TiO2, and their milli = meter scale structure allowed ultra-fast filtering using a strainer. The TiO2@HNT/Alcaps showed ~1.7 times higher adsorption of rhodamine B compared to empty alginate capsules and also showed ~10 and ~6 times higher degradation rate compared to the HNT/Alcaps and TiO2/Alcaps, respectively.