Enhancing visible-light activity of the self-cleaning TiO2-coated cotton fabrics by loading AgI particles

While extending the application of TiO2 to substrates with low thermal resistance, enhanced visible-light activity of the self-cleaning TiO2-coated cotton fabrics has been realized by loading AgI particles. Several characterization tools, such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, were employed to study the phase structures, morphologies and optical properties of the samples. The photocatalytic properties of the prepared products were measured with the degradation of methyl orange at room temperature under visible light irradiation. In comparison with TiO2–cotton fabrics, the dramatic enhancement in the visible light photocatalytic performance of the AgI–TiO2–cotton fabrics could be attributed to AgI with narrow band gap and the effective electron-hole separations at the interfaces of the two semiconductors. The photocatalytic performances of the AgI–TiO2–cotton fabrics were maintained for the cycling experiments. In addition, based on the XRD patterns of the AgI–TiO2–cotton fabrics before and after reaction, AgI was stable in the composites under visible irradiation, indicating that AgI–TiO2–cotton fabrics could be used as stable and efficient visible-light-induced self-cleaning materials.