Fullerene-cored star-shaped polyporphyrin-incorporated TiO2 as photocatalysts for the enhanced degradation of rhodamine B.

Highly photoactive fullerene-cored star-shaped polyporphyrin incorporated TiO 2 , ZnCPP-Fullerol@TiO 2 , was prepared from the immobilization of fullerene-cored star-shaped polyporphyrin nanospheres, produced by the esterification of carboxyl porphyrin with fullerols, on the surface of TiO 2 via the excess hydroxyl groups of fullerols, and used for rhodamine B degradation under light irradiation. The synthesized catalyst was fully characterized by various techniques, including ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), cyclic voltammetry and thermogravimetric analysis etc. The results demonstrated that the insertion of fullerols in ZnCPP-Fullerol@TiO 2 produced an enhancement in photocurrent efficiency and the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B. The degradation rate of rhodamine B was 94.7% after treatment with light irradiation for 150 min, and the reaction rate constant was k = 0.0193 s⁻¹ for ZnCPP-Fullerol@TiO 2. This constant was much higher than that of ZnCPP@TiO 2 (0.00723 s⁻¹) due to the improvement in the separation of electron-hole pairs and the availability of good sites for adsorption and catalysis. Moreover ZnCPP-Fullerol@TiO 2 exhibits excellent reusability, and a reasonable mechanism for the enhanced reactivity was proposed. [Display omitted] • Fullerene-cored star-shaped polyporphyrin (ZnCPP-Fullerol) were synthesized and characterized with modern techniques. • Highly photoactive ZnCPP-Fullerol@TiO 2 was prepared from ZnCPP-Fullerol through immobilizing it on the surface of TiO 2. • The mechanism of photocatalytic activity was elucidated. • The insertion of fullerol entity in ZnCPP-Fullerol@TiO 2 exhibited an enhancement photocatalytic degradation of Rh B. • The photocatalytic rate of RhB was 94.7% after 150 min by ZnCPP-Fullerol@TiO 2 composite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]