TRANSITIONAL METAL OXIDE NANOCRYSTAL-COATED MESOPOROUS MICROSTRUCTURES, USES THEREFOR, AND PROCESSES FOR MAKING SAME

摘要

Transitional metal oxide-coated mesoporous microstructures, uses therefor, andprocesses formaking same are provided. The transitional metal oxide-coated mesoporousmicrostructures canbe silica based, including MCM-41, MCM-45, MCM-48, SBA-15 and SBA-16. Themicrostructures can include microspheres. The mesoporous microstructures canbe producedusing a sol-gel process wherein the crystallization step in the sol-gelprocess is carried out at alow temperature, where the temperature can be 22°C for example. Themetal oxide can betitanium dioxide. The titanium dioxide can include titanium dioxidenanocrystals. Thetransitional metal oxide-coated mesoporous microstructures can be used inenvironmentalapplications, such as nanofiltration of contaminated water to removepollutants.