Fluorinated Mesoporous Anatase TiO2 Microspheres with High Surface and Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity for the Degradation of Methyl Orange

Abstract

Highly crystalline mesoporous TiO microspheres with areas up to 122 m/g and tunable pore size have been prepared through a combined sol–gel and solvothermal processes. The concentration of NaF exhibits a great effect on the morphology, crystallinity, crystal size and photocatalytic activity of the TiO microspheres. A higher NaF concentration results in an increase in the average crystal size and pore size, whereas whereas it caused a decrease in the specific surface areas. All fluorinated TiO microspheres showed a higher photocatalytic activity than P25 and pure TiO microspheres obtained in the absence of NaF due to the effect of surface fluorination on the photoactivity of TiO. The approach described in this study provides a simple method to synthesize the micrometer-sized hierarchical structure of mesoporous TiO microspheres that are ready for practical applications such as environmental pollutants removal and solar cell because these high active materials can be easily separated.