Preparation of Cu(ii) porphyrin–TiO2 composite in one-pot method and research on photocatalytic property

Abstract

A promising fabrication strategy used for designing TiO₂ photocatalysts, which enhanced the photocatalytic activity by combining TiO₂ with a new carboxyl-group-containing Cu(II) porphyrin (CuPp) in a sol–gel processing TiO₂ and a one-pot solvothermal condition, has been proposed. Both porphyrins and composite photocatalyst CuPp–TiO₂ have been characterized by spectroscopic techniques. Their photocatalytic performances were investigated by testing the photodegradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in aqueous solution under UV-vis light irradiation. The results reveal that the methodology for the anatase TiO₂ photocatalyst is easy to achieve, and the photocatalytic activity measurements illustrate that the Cu(II) porphyrin-based TiO₂ photocatalyst we synthesized displays superior photocatalytic activity and good chemical stability for organic pollutant photodegradation due to the strong interactions between Cu(II) porphyrins and TiO₂.