Template-Directed Fabrication of Anatase TiO2 Hollow Nanoparticles and Their Application in Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange

Abstract

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) was used to fabricate polymeric nanoparticles via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization of benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) using diblock copolymer poly(glycerol monomethacrylate)-block-poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PGMMA- PDMAEMA-CTA) as the macro RAFT agent. The dispersion of polymeric nanoparticles with a final concentration of about 210 mg/g (solid content of 21%) was obtained via this efficient method (PISA). The resultant polymeric nanoparticles consisting of corona-shell-core three layers with weak polyelectrolyte PDMAEMA as the shell were used as sacrificial template to fabricate TiO2 hollow nanoparticles. The negatively charged titanium precursor was absorbed into the PDMAEMA shell via the electrostatic interaction, and hydrolyzed to form polymer/TiO2 hybrid nanoparticles. Anatase TiO2 hollow nanoparticles were formed after removing the polymeric templates by calcination at 550 °C. The experiments of photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange showed that the resultant anatase TiO2 hollow nanoparticles had high photocatalytic activity and good reusability.