Solvothermal Treatment of Visible-Light-Responsive TiO2 toward Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation Activity of Tetracycline

Photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants driven by visible-light is considered as a promising and effective water purification strategy. In this work, solvothermal treatment was carried out on visible-light-responsive TiO2 samples in isopropyl alcohol to improve the photocatalytic degradation performance. The effects of solvothermal treatment on the microstructure, band structure, optical properties, photoelectrochemical properties and photocatalytic activity of the obtained TiO2 samples were systematically investigated. The experimental results showed that the photocatalytic degradation performance of the treated TiO2 samples was significantly improved. The TiO2 sample treated for 24 h at 180 degrees C showed the optimal kinetic constant of photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline, which is 4.7 times that of pristine TiO2. This work provides some insight into the effect of solvothermal treatment on the photocatalytic properties of semiconductor photocatalysts.