Distributed inner states TiO2-coated plastic fibers as photocatalysts for decomposing organic pollutants in water

A new method for decomposing organic pollutants in water is proposed. First, we used less pure titanium dioxide (TiO₂) particles as a photocatalyst material to achieve an absorption band that would be as wide as the spectrum for visible sunlight. The TiO₂ particles were coated onto the surface of transparent plastic fibers and used to decompose test solutions of rhodamine that were placed in open sunlight for several days. We observed an effective decomposition, and after completing the decomposition process, the fibers could be removed easily from the cleaned water leaving no TiO₂ in the water. Because there was no significant change in the elemental composition of the fiber surface after being used for cleaning the water, the coated fiber can be used repeatedly.