Abstract
Anatase mesoporous TiO2 films doped with Ca were prepared by sol–gel and deposited onto glass slides. The influence of the dopant in the textural and structural properties of the films was studied together with their photocatalytic activity. Titania sols w/o and with Ca were synthesised from titanium isopropoxide as TiO2 precursor, acetic acid as complexing agent, and polyethylene glycol hexadecyl ether (Brij58) as pore-generating agent. The TiO2 films were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Environmental ellipsometric porosimetry was used to obtain the adsorption–desorption isotherms and the total pore volume, for determining the pore size distribution and specific surface area (S s) of the films, crucial parameters that govern the photocatalytic behaviour. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated through the degradation of methyl orange (MO) in aqueous solution using a Xe lamp that simulates solar radiation. The photocatalytic activity depends on the dopant amount. The dopant creates levels within the band gap that improving the charge separation, and reduces the recombination e −/h + pairs. The best results of MO degradation were obtained for the films sintered at 450 °C for 90 min and doped with 3 % of Ca2+.
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