Abstract
We present an effective and environmental-friendly pathway to prepare SiO2 hollow particles using Na2SO4 particles as templates, which involved sol-gel silica coating on surface of the templates and subsequent removal of the Na2SO4 templates by water-dissolution. Further, SiO2/TiO2 double-shell hollow particles were prepared by coating TiO2 on the surface of the hollow SiO2 particles. The morphologies and structures of the synthesized hollow particles were characterized using SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR, BET, and UV. The sizes and shapes of the hollow particles can be controlled by using Na2SO4 templates with different sizes and shapes. The sizes of hollow particles were in the range from 500 nm to 15 μm. By changing the concentration of silicon precursor, the shell thickness of hollow SiO2 particles can be controlled in the range of 25–200 nm. In addition, SiO2/TiO2 double-shell hollow particles showed better photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B than that of hollow TiO2 particles and solid TiO2 particles. The important characters of the water-soluble Na2SO4 template method is as follows:
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
