Facile and novel synthesis of nitrogen doped TiO2/Acid soluble collagen-polyvinyl pyrrolidone (ASC-PVP) hybrid nanocomposite for rapid and effective photodegradation of naphthalene from water under visible light irradiation

• The sol-gel method leads to surface functionalization of N-TiO 2 nanoparticles with ASC-PVP homogenous blend of polymer in order to improve its photocatalytic activity under visible light. • N-TiO 2 /ASC-PVP hybrid nanocomposite is shown an obvious shift of absorption band edge to higher wavelength and decreased recombination rate of electron-hole in comparison with N-TiO 2 nanoparticles. • The N-TiO 2 /ASC-PVP represents good photocatalytic efficiency for the removal of naphthalene pollutants at very low concentrations from seawater. A highly efficient, eco-friendly, and visible-light-driven photocatalyst, namely nitrogen doped titanium dioxide (N-TiO 2 )/collagen-polyvinyl pyrrolidone (ASC-PVP) hybrid nanocomposite is prepared via facile sol–gel method. The ASC-PVP steadily covers the N-TiO 2 . The XPS data confirmed the oxygen vacancies and nitrogen interstitial-type doping in N-TiO 2 prepared by the sol–gel route. Furthermore, the O 1s and N 1S XPS data prove that both nitrogen and oxygen atoms of ASC-PVP are participated in hydrogen bonds with N-Ti-O and/or Ti-O-N bonds in N-TiO 2 nanoparticles. Moreover, the N-TiO 2 /ASC-PVP is shown an obvious red shift of absorption band edge and reduced recombination rate of electron-hole in comparison with N-TiO 2 nanoparticles. N-TiO 2 /ASC-PVP was used to study photocatalytic degradation of a typical polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs), namely naphthalene in water under visible light irradiation. N-TiO 2 /ASC-PVP possessed high photocatalytic activity for the naphthalene degradation (86%) within 100 min under visible light. The inhibitory effect on the naphthalene photodegradation indicated that O 2 - . and h + ·are the major reactive species. Also, the N-TiO 2 /ASC-PVP exhibited very good visible light photocatalytic efficiency for the removal of naphthalene at very low concentrations from seawater.