Abstract
Nanoglued binary titania (TiO 2)–silica (SiO 2) aerogel, as a novel type of photocatalyst, has been synthesized on glass substrates. Using an about-to-gel SiO 2 sol as nanoglue, anatase TiO 2 aerogel was immobilized into a three-dimensional mesoporous network of the SiO 2. Factorial designs were employed to optimize both TiO 2 aerogel and binary TiO 2–SiO 2 aerogel synthesis. Characterization of the as-prepared TiO 2 and binary samples by surface area, porosity, and surface chemical composition showed that the photocatalysts were high-surface-area nanoporous materials, with a Ti 4+ valency. The binary aerogel exhibited high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under simulated solar light; the reaction followed the pseudo first-order Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L–H) kinetic model. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the hydroxyl ( OH) radical was formed during the illumination of the binary TiO 2–SiO 2 aerogel in a solution of probe molecules, which corroborates the probable mechanism of hydroxyl radical oxidation of contaminants in photocatalytic reactions.
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