Polyacrylamide exotemplate-assisted synthesis of hierarchically porous nanostructured TiO2 macrobeads for efficient photodegradation of organic dyes and microbes

Abstract

Nano/microscale TiO2 materials and their composites have reached the pinnacle of their photocatalytic performances to destroy persistent organic pollutants and waterborne microorganisms, but their practical applications are limited by the drawbacks associated with their stability, leaching, processing and separation. To overcome these shortcomings, we have prepared hierarchically porous nanostructured TiO2 macrobeads via an exotemplating or nanocasting strategy by infiltrating the TiO2 sol into the emulsion-templated porous polyacrylamide scaffold followed by its gelation, drying and calcination. The nanoscale TiO2 building units tailor the shape of the porous polymeric network after calcination thereby retaining the macroscale morphology of polymer beads after template removal. A novel combination of the hierarchical macroporosity, orderly crystalline anatase nature, nanoscale feature and good surface area revealed by the relevant characterization tools makes these TiO2 scaffolds particularly effective for superior degradation of methylene blue with the enhanced rate constant and efficient disinfection of E. coli and S. aureus under UV light. The macrosize and mechanical stability of these purely TiO2 beaded architectures have several potential advantages over conventional TiO2 nanocomposites and slurry systems to address the inherent bottlenecks of secondary contamination, difficult operation and energy-intensive post-recovery processes that are indeed deemed to be the barriers to develop practically useful water treatment technologies.