Abstract
Increasing the content of anatase nanocrystals and improving the accessibility of these crystals to reactants (UV photons, organic contaminant molecules and oxygen molecules) will enhance photocatalytic performance. Thus we designed a synthesis approach to achieve such structures. The synthesis involves reaction of clay suspensions with TiOSO 4, which leads to formation of anatase nanocrystals attaching to leached clay layers through Ti–O–Si bonds. It is also discovered that the crystal size, the pore size and the specific surface area of the catalysts, can be tailored by manipulating the acidity, the ratio of Ti/clay and the hydrothermal temperature of the synthesis systems. Such a synthesis is different from the conventional approach of pillared intercalated layered clays. The activity of these catalysts for the degradation of phenol was investigated, and we find that the catalytic activity increases with the increasing volume of the pore larger than 3 nm because formation of mesoporous system and anatase nanocrystals leads to improvement in the photocatalytic activity of photocatalysts. This new structure is a more efficient photocatalyst structure for degradating organic pollutant in water, compared to the conventional titania pillared layered clay. The knowledge acquired in this study is useful for designing photocatalysts with high efficiency.
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