Synthesis of Ni-doped anatase TiO2 single crystals loaded on wood-based activated carbon for enhanced photodegradation of triphenylmethane dyes

In this work, the Ni-doped anatase TiO 2 single crystals loaded on activated carbon (Ni-T/AC) were synthesized by a sol–gel method. The chemical compositions and physical properties of as-prepared materials were analyzed by XRD, TEM, BET, FTIR, XPS, and PL characterizations. The obtained results implied that all of samples presented anatase phase with a clear mesoporous structure. The photocatalytic properties of nanocomposites were evaluated through photodegradation of crystal violet (CV), basic fuchsine (BF), and malachite green (MG). The results revealed that the catalyst Ni-T/AC-loaded AC exhibited an excellent photocatalytic activity compared with the original TiO 2 , and the photodegradation efficiency for CV, BF, and MG is 99.00%, 94.85%, and 98.89% after 120 min of irradiation, respectively. This enhancement may be ascribed to the small crystallite size, large specific surface area, and pore volume of the photocatalysts. In addition, the possible degradation mechanism and pathway for triphenylmethane dyes (TPMs) were also well investigated. This work provides a new, low-cost, and effective route to improve the performance of TiO 2 for effective removing TPMs.