Construction of a multifunctional MXene@β-cyclodextrin nanocomposite with photocatalytic properties

Abstract Designing a multimodal photocatalyst material with enhanced optical properties and surface area is among the important methods for removing dangerous organic contaminants under visible light irradiation. A simple synthetic method was used to electrostatically fabricate well-defined WO 3 nanoparticles in and over Ti 3 C 2 MXene nanosheets to form a 2D/2D hybrid with varying Ti 3 C 2 contents (1–5 wt %). These nanoparticles were then bifunctionally linked with beta-cyclodextrin to create a WO 3 -Ti 3 C 2 @-CD nanocomposite. The as-synthesized WO 3 -Ti 3 C 2 @β-CD nanocomposite shows significantly enhanced optical properties such as low band gap and high absorption intensity. Also, shows photocatalytic properties such as decreased charge carriers (3.70 × 10 19 cm −3 for 5% WO 3 -Ti 3 C 2 @ β-CD nanocomposite compared to 2.25 × 10 20 cm −3 for pristine WO 3 ). Photoelectrochemical properties were improved for the nanocomposite, such as photoinduced carriers’ separation, and transfer ability, and this could mean that the high conductivity of Ti 3 C 2 and a large surface area between WO 3 and Ti 3 C 2 MXene that interacts to promote the separation of charges and boost reactive sites that are crucial for increasing the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite. Various characterization techniques analysis such as XRD and TEM further verified the interfacial interaction between WO 3 , Ti 3 C 2 , and beta-cyclodextrin and actively encouraged the spatial charge separation. Additionally, this work creates opportunities for building a versatile and reliable MXene-based photocatalyst for water purification. Graphical Abstract