Positive role of incorporating P-25 TiO2 to mesoporous-assembled TiO2 thin films for improving photocatalytic dye degradation efficiency

Abstract

In this work, a simple and effective strategy to improve the photocatalytic dye degradation efficiency of the mesoporous-assembled TiO2 nanoparticle thin films by incorporating small contents of commercial P-25 TiO2 during the thin film preparation was developed. The mesoporous-assembled TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol–gel method with the aid of a mesopore-directing surfactant, followed by homogeneously mixing with P-25 TiO2 prior to the thin film coating on glass substrate. The mesoporous-assembled TiO2 film with 5wt.% P-25 TiO2 incorporation and calcined at 400°C provided an improved photocatalytic Acid Black (AB) dye degradation efficiency. The increase in number of coated layers to the optimum four layers of the aforementioned film was found to further improve the degradation efficiency. The recyclability test of this 5wt.% P-25 TiO2-incorporated mesoporous-assembled TiO2 film with four coated layers revealed that it can be reused for multiple cycles without a requirement of post-treatment while the degradation efficiency was retained.