Multifunctional and recyclable TiO ₂ hybrid sponges for efficient sorption, detection, and photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants

Developing techniques for monitoring and removing organic pollutants such as solvents and dyes in environmental media is a very important task nowadays. To get rid of the pollutants, efficient materials that can sorb, detect, and decompose such compounds have been consistently sought after. Herein, we demonstrate a simple and inexpensive method to fabricate eco-friendly multifunctional and recyclable TiO ₂ hybrid sponges composed of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) network and functional nanoparticles. Water-soluble crystals were used to construct porous templates and TiO ₂ nanoparticles were additionally integrated into the templates where liquid PDMS was filled. After curing the PDMS, the TiO ₂ integrated hybrid sponges were finally obtained by dissolving the templates with water. By using the fabricated hybrid sponges, sorbed organic pollutants were qualitatively detected via molecular-specific Raman signals. Furthermore, we showed the recyclability by achieving photocatalytic decomposition of the sorbed pollutants induced by the TiO ₂ nanoparticles. These results are instructive for further applications and also contribute toward solving problems relating to environmental pollution.