MXene-derived TiO2/MXene-loaded Ag for the degradation of the methyl orange

The photodegradation technology can improve the status quo of environmental problems seriously which hindered the development and progress of human society. In this work, the two-dimensional transition metal carbide Ti3C2 was prepared by HF etching of Ti3AlC2, and subsequently TiO2 crystals were produced by hydrothermal method to prepare TiO2/Ti3C2 composite. The Ag nanoparticles were then doped by photoreduction to form a ternary Ag/TiO2/Ti3C2 composite. The effect of photocatalytic degradation of the methyl orange solution by Ag/TiO2/Ti3C2 was investigated. The degradation only with Ag/TiO2/Ti3C2 is worser than TiO2/Ti3C2, so H2O2 was added to improve the catalytic ability and explore the photocatalytic mechanism. In 420 min, the degradation efficiency of methyl orange (MO) solution reached 71.09% due to the active-free radicals preventing the recombination of electron hole pairs to improve the catalytic performance of photocatalytic materials.Graphical abstract