Photocatalytic quartz fiber felts with carbon-connected TiO2 nanoparticles for capillarity-driven continuous-flow water treatment

Immobility of photocatalysts on substrates is a vital factor for the practical application of photocatalysis in polluted water/air treatment. In this study, TiO 2 homogenously loaded quartz fiber felt was prepared by assembling of carboxyl-contained organic molecules functionalized TiO 2 nanoparticles on the surface of amino group-modified quartz fiber by electrostatic adsorption between them and followed by an anneal process. The immobilization of TiO 2 nanoparticles overcomes one main obstacle of the photocatalysts recycling in photocatalysis application. In addition, a plasma treatment endowed the hybrid photocatalyst a high hydrophilic property. Due to the homogeneous distribution of TiO 2 , charge carriers’ separation by carbon, and full contact between water and the photocatalyst derived from the high hydrophilia, the TiO 2 /quartz fiber felt shows excellent photocatalytic performance. Based on the stable loading and the capillarity effect of the contacted fibers photocatalyst, a demo capillarity-driven continuous-flow water treatment photocatalysis reactor was designed and built up. The TiO 2 nanoparticle/quartz fiber hybrid photocatalyst can disposal organic contaminants in actual industrial waste water from a dyeing factory in the continuous-flow reactor. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the industrial waste water was decreased from 104 to 45 mg/L, overcoming the problem of deep water treatment which is difficult to solve by other methods. This study provides a new photocatalyst and reaction mode for the continuous-flow photocatalysis application. Graphical abstract