Preparation and characterization of the TiO2/polymer complex nanomaterial

A TiO2/polymer (TiO2/P) complex nanomaterial was successfully synthesized through a simple procedure and characterized by the methods of TEM, XRD, UV–Vis, IR, and XPS. Results showed that the TiO2/P complex particles were nano-sized and the average size was about 30 nm. Treated at the same temperature, TiO2 of the complex particles was crystalline and of Anatase while pure polymer (P) was amorphous. P was a conjugated polymer with active groups and was linked together with TiO2 by TiOC bond. Photocatalytic experiments showed that the nanoparticles had extremely high photocatalytic activity for the decolorizations of dyes MB and AO. The role of the polymer on the photocatalytic decolorization of dyes and other influence factors were also discussed.