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Title: A study of TiO 2 nanocrystal growth and environmental remediation capability of TiO 2 /CNC nanocomposites
Nanocellulose, which can be derived from any cellulosic biomass, has emerged as an appealing nanoscale scaffold to develop inorganic–organic nanocomposites for a wide range of applications. In this study, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanocrystals were synthesized in the cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) scaffold using a simple approach, i.e. , hydrolysis of a titanium oxysulfate precursor in a CNC suspension at low temperature. The resulting TiO 2 nanoparticles exhibited a narrow size range between 3 and 5 nm, uniformly distributed on and strongly adhered to the CNC surface. The structure of the resulting nanocomposite was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The growth mechanism of TiO 2 nanocrystals in the CNC scaffold was also investigated by solution small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), where the results suggested the mineralization process could be described by the Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner theory for Ostwald ripening. The demonstrated TiO 2 /CNC nanocomposite system exhibited excellent performance in dye degradation and antibacterial activity, suitable for a wide range of environmental remediation applications.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1808690
PAR ID:
10154969
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
RSC Advances
Volume:
9
Issue:
69
ISSN:
2046-2069
Page Range / eLocation ID:
40565 to 40576
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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