In-situ construction of β-CD polymer/TiO2 with enhanced charge separation for boosting photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline

Developing an efficient photocatalyst with excellent photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC) is highly desired but challenging. Herein, by introducing a facile in-situ engineering strategy, a novel beta-CD polymer/titanium dioxide (beta-CDP/TiO2) composite with high photocatalytic activity was prepared. Interesting, although the beta-CDP was poor conductor, the prepared beta-CDP/TiO2 exhibited 96% photocatalytic degradation of TC under solar light at 90 min, which is 2.5 time higher than that of pristine TiO2. The beta-CDP/TiO2 also showed excellent recoverability and stability photocatalytic activity. Scavenger tests showed the superoxide (O-2(-)) play the main role in TC degradation. The significantly improved photocatalytic activity should be attributed to beta-CDP acted as a promoter and afforded an efficient electron-hole separation of TiO2. This study provided a good reference value for new biomaterials/semiconductor photocatalysts and facilitated their applications in environmental protection.