A simple nanocomposite photocatalyst HT-rGO/TiO2 for deoxynivalenol degradation in liquid food

•The photocatalyst HT-rGO/TiO2 for DON degradation was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method.•With the rGO addition, the photocatalyst degraded the DON contaminated in beer and kept most flavor of beer.•Under ultraviolet light irradiation, the oxygen-containing radicals occurred from HT-rGO/TiO2 and destroyed the groups responsible for DON toxicity. A simple nanocomposite photocatalyst HT-rGO/TiO2 for deoxynivalenol (DON) degradation was synthesized by hydrothermal method to maintain the quality of cereal grains and byproducts. The characterization of HT-rGO/TiO2 was analyzed by XRD, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS. Moreover, according to UV–vis DRS analysis, HT-rGO/TiO2 had a smaller band gap, indicating a wider response range to light and a higher utilized rate of quantum photons. Additionally, the results of LC-MS showed that the hydroxyl group at the C3 position, and the unsaturated bond between C9 and C10, and the epoxy group at C12 and C13 positions of DON molecule were destroyed step by step by photocatalytic degradation. These groups have active effects on the DON toxicity, which means it is successful to degrade DON in liquid-food by HT-rGO/TiO2 photocatalyst.