Synergistic Enhancement of Photocatalytic Degradation of Polyethylene Plastics by Ni Cocatalyst and Oxygen Vacancies Engineering TiO2 Nanosheets

Abstract

Due to the significant accumulation of plastic waste in the environment, the development of mild and effective plastic degradation technology is highly desirable. In this work, Ni clusters decorated TiO₂ nanosheets with oxygen vacancies have been made through plasma treatment. The photocatalytic degradation of low-density polyethylene (PE) has been investigated with the as-prepared catalyst under simulated sunlight irradiation. During the photodegradation, the yield rates of CO₂ and CO are 14.3 mg h⁻¹ g_cat⁻¹ and 190 µg h⁻¹ g_cat⁻¹, respectively, which were 4.3 times and 2.0 times higher than those of the pristine TiO₂ and non-treated catalyst. The related experimental results demonstrate that Ni and oxygen vacancies exert a synergistic enhancement role for the photocatalytic performance. The present study provides an avenue to obtain efficient and economical catalysts for the disinfection of plastic pollutants.