Hierarchically mesostructured TiO2/graphitic carbon composite as a new efficient photocatalyst for the reduction of CO2 under simulated solar irradiation

Abstract

A hierarchically mesostructured TiO2/graphitic carbon composite photocatalyst with a high content of nanocrystalline TiO2 was prepared using a simple one-step nanocasting route. X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, nitrogen adsorption–desorption, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize this photocatalyst. It was observed that the coexistence of silica and graphitic carbon during the high temperature treatment stabilized the crystalline phase and the size of the anatase TiO2 nanocrystals (5–7 nm in diameter), which were uniformly dispersed in the graphitic carbon matrix after silica removal. The obtained hierarchically mesostructured TiO2/graphitic carbon composite photocatalyst with a high specific surface area and a high surface concentration of hydroxyl groups exhibited considerably higher activity in the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 with H2O under simulated solar irradiation compared to mesostructured anatase TiO2 prepared using a sol–gel method.