TiO{sub}2 - Ag Porous Nanocomposites for Advanced Photocatalytic Processes

摘要

Porous nanocomposites based on TiO{sub}2 aerogels and silver colloidal particles were obtained by sol-gel method. The samples were heat-treated at 500°C for 2h with the aim to obtain a preponderant TiO{sub}2 anatase phase. The photocatalytic performances of the composites were monitored by using salicylic acid as test molecule. The promising results obtained in comparison with the commercial product Degussa P25 directed our attention towards the understanding of the morphological and structural particularities of the composite samples. The morphological data revealed the existence of high specific surface area for the as-prepared samples and of a relatively small one for the heat-treated samples. The influence of the anatase content was found to be insignificant, while that of TiO{sub}2 nanoparticles size was found to be an important parameter besides the presence of silver particles and aggregates inside the TiO{sub}2 porous network.