Photocatalytic degradation of dye wastewater by stepwise assembling PVA aerogel/TiO2/MoS2/Au composites in visible light

Abstract A PVA aerogel/TiO2/MoS2/Au catalyst formed gradually using a hydrothermal method is used to degrade Rhodamine B. SEM and TEM results show that the composite presents a uniform and well-structured porous network structure, high specific surface area and large pore diameter were proved by the results of nitrogen adsorption measurement. UV–vis DRS and PL results indicate that the composite has a high absorption rate in the visible light range, and the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs can be effectively inhibited because the composite material forms a heterojunction. In the photocatalytic degradation experiment of Rhodamine B, the composite material shows high photocatalytic performance, which can reach 86% in two hours of light. The photocatalysts supported by PVA are easy to recover and have high catalytic performance even after five recycles. The study shows that PVA/TiO2/MoS2/Au composite material has great potential to be used for the degradation of dye wastewater.