Highly selective photocatalytic degradation of p-nitrophenol facilitated by photo-sensitive molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles and TiO2 nanoparticles

Abstract

Photocatalytic degradation is a promising way for removing industrial pollutants from wastewater. However, selective enrichment and removal of target pollutants especially at ultralow concentrations are extremely challenging. Herein, a highly selective and efficient strategy for photocatalytic degradation of an organic pollutant, p-nitrophenol (PNP), is developed based on photosensitive molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles and TiO₂ photocatalyst functionalized fiberglass cloth (FGC). The negatively charged p-nitrophenol@photosensitive random copolymer nanoparticles (PNP@PAVE NPs) and the positively charged TiO₂ NPs were used as building blocks to successively deposit on the surface of FGC, followed by the removal of the PNP through UV radiation, leading to the formation of PNP-MIP NP and TiO₂ NP decorated FGC (TiO₂/PNP-MIP NPs/FGC) with high selectivity and photocatalytic activity. As a result, TiO₂/PNP-MIP NPs/FGC exhibited a removal rate of 98.7% and excellent selectivity for PNP. This work provides a valuable approach for realizing highly selective degradation of specific pollutants in complex pollutant mixtures in a real environment.