Synthesis of photodegradable TiO2/stearate complex and characterization of its Langmuir monolayer at the air/water interface

The water pollution from organic compound has became a serious global problem. The TiO2 photocatalyst illuminated with UV light can decompose organic compound. Since the specific gravity of TiO2 particles is larger than water, the photodecomposition of organic compound in the water was difficult. So we synthesized TiO2/stearate complex for the efficient decomposition of organic compound for the efficient photodegradation of aggregated organic pollutants. The photodegradable TiO2/stearate complex has been prepared with sodium stearate. This was identified with FT-IR, water contact angle, TGA and TEM images. This complex was studied as Langmuir monolayer at the air/water interface on the miscibility and photodegradability of organic crude oil which was exposed at the sea water with pressure–area isotherm, Brewster angle microscope (BAM) and surface tensiometer.