Organized mesoporous titanium dioxide - A powerful photocatalyst for the removal of water pollutants

摘要

The porous structure of titania films prepared using a poly(alkylene) block copolymer in an ethanolic medium depends on their thickness because the completeness of the hydrolysis of the titania precursor is decided by its accessibility for air humidity. Well-organized film is formed only from a completely hydrolyzed precursor. The photocatalytic activity of such organized film is comparable with that of the most active commercial anatase powder. As the thermal stability of anatase materials is generally not sufficient, a novel ordered mesoporous titania was prepared, whose framework is composed of anatase nanocrystals stabilized by aluminum, cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium chloride being used as a structure directing agent. The character of the porous structure and the thermal stability of this material strongly depend on the content of aluminum.