Preparation of Co-doped TiO2 activated carbon nanocomposite and its photocatalytic degradation of phenol wastewater

[Display omitted] •Cobalt-doped TiO2 on activated carbon prepared via hydrothermal synthesis.•The CT@AC nanocomposite effectively degrades 20 mgL−1 phenol solution (∼100 %).•The presence of interfering ions glycine, CuSO4, Cd(NO3)2, EDTA hinders phenol degradation.•GC–MS confirms phenol degradation yields formic acid, CO2, and water as end products. Co-doped TiO2 supported on activated carbon (CT@AC) nanocomposite was prepared via a hydrothermal approach. The nanocomposite was characterized by various analytical methods like FT-IR, UV–vis DRS, SEM-EDX, photoluminescence (PL) and XRD. The visible light active nanocomposite was utilized for the degradation of phenol from an aqueous solution. The findings suggested that the introduction of Co2+ ions enhances the photocatalytic activity under visible light, enhances the surface area of the nanocomposite, decreases the bandgap energy, reduces recombination rate, and enhances the efficiency of transferring photogenerated electrons. The degradation efficiency with 0.35 g of the Co-doped TiO2/Activated carbon nanocomposite was found to have a catalytic rate of ∼100 % for 20 mgL−1 phenol solution.