Synthesis of Mesoporous TiO2 and its application to photocatalytic activation of methylene blue and E. coli

Abstract

Mesoporous TiO2 material was synthesized from diblock copolymers with ethylene oxide chains via a sol-gel process in aqueous solution. The properties of these materials were characterized with several analytical techniques including field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), wide angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) analysis. The mesoporous TiO2 materials calcined at 400°C were found to have specific surface areas 212 m2g-1, average pore sizes 6.2 nm, and their average crystal sizes were found to be 8.2 nm. The photocatalytic activity of mesoporous TiO2 was characterized with UV-Vis spectroscopy, and it was found to be 5.8 times higher than that of Degussa P25 TiO2 (P25). For deactivation of Escherichia coli, mesoporous TiO2 also has high photocatalytic inactivity than that of P25. Such a high photocatalytic activity is explained with large surface area and small crystal size with wormhole-like mesoporous structure.