The effects of UV-radiation on materials can be complicated. On one side, the UV-radiation, especially the UV-B radiation with short wavelengths and high energy, will cause the degradation of materials, which draws the attention to design materials that can resist the degradation providing appropriate life time for application. On the other side, the UV-radiation can be applied as natural energy to assist the degradation of the toxic compounds and waste materials. In this talk, we will talk about how we design nanomaterials for the efficient degradation of toxic compounds and plastic in consideration the role of UV-radiation.
Tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) with a stable benzene ring skeleton structure and high hydrophilicity, rendering its resistant to degradation in aqueous environments. In the first work, we designed and synthesized a composite photocatalyst nanomaterial via the hydrothermal method by integrating the carbon quantum dots (CQDs) derived from carbon aerogel (CA) into BiOCl. The resulting composite photocatalyst introduced an abundance of oxygen vacancies (OVs), leading to enhanced catalytic degradation performance. Experimental results demonstrate that CA/BiOCl nanocomposite exhibits a pronounced photocatalytic effect, showcasing a degradation rate of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) under a full spectrum irradiation, achieving a degradation rate of ~100%.
In another work, we designed a double-side catalyst based on titanium oxide, which plays key roles in both polymerization and depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET, accounts for more than 80% of chemical fibers). The effects of UV-radiation including the intensity and spectral composition on degradation of titanium catalyst contained PET plastics will be introduced. The perspective and challenges in using such nanomaterials as additives for the preparation of functional fiber materials will also be discussed.