A composite of 2-aminoterephthalic acid coupled with TiF3@TiO2/polyvinyl alcohol with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic reactivity; investigation of the photocatalytic mechanism

In this study, a composite (A_TiF3@TiO2/P), containing an organic linker (2-aminoterephthalic acid), polymer (polyvinyl alcohol) and nanoparticle (TiF3@TiO2), as a highly efficient photocatalysis for removing organic harmful substances under visible light, was synthesized and studied. Different characterization techniques, including X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), synchronous thermal, BET, Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), FT-IR spectroscopy, Diffuse Reflection/transmittance Spectroscopy (DRS/DTS), and UV–Vis spectroscopy were carried out. TiF3 was heat-treated at 350 °C for six different times (30 (TiFa), 60 (TiFb), 90 (TiFc), 120 (TiFd), and 180 (TiFe) min) to obtain the phase of TiO2 beside TiF3. According to the XRD pattern, TiFb was chosen as the best compound and chosen for the next steps. The next steps involved modifying the surface activity of TiFb by polyvinyl alcohol (TiF3@TiO2/p), while the final step was the couple of 2-aminoterephthalic acid to TiF3@TiO2/p. TiF3, TiFa, TiFb, TiFe, TiF3@TiO2/p, and A_TiF3@TiO2/P were used and compared as photocatalysts, under the visible light, to reduce bromophenol blue (BPB). The results revealed that M_ TiF3@TiO2/P was very powerful in decreasing the concentration of BPB (78.62%) as compared with TiF3 (2%), TiFa (4.2%), TiFb (18.96%), TiFe (10.6%), and TiF@TiO2/p (20.04%). Besides, the photocatalytic mechanism of the composite in different states was investigated in detail, which was divided into four categories of (I) TiF, (II) TiF3, TiFa, TiFb, and TiFe; (III) TiF3@TiO2/P; and (IV) A_TiF3@TiO2/P. © 2021 The Author(s)