title: Enhancement of TiO2 photocatalytic activity by structuring the photocatalyst film as photonic sponge.
abstract: A TiO2 film having "photonic sponge" architecture (ps-TiO2) has been prepared using titania Degussa P25 nanoparticles that have been infiltrated into a template obtained through the arrangement of a mixture of different size latex spheres. The resulting photonic sponge exhibits 3.3 fold higher initial photocatalytic degradation rate for succinonitrile disappearance than analogous films of the same thickness made of unstructured P25 TiO2 nanoparticles. When corrected for the three fold lower mass of the ps-TiO2 films with respect to more dense P25, the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity by the photonic sponge morphology for the same mass of photocatalyst is about one order of magnitude. It was also observed that films of photonic sponge of 3 microm depth are more efficient than thicker films (5 and 7 microm).
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Tecnología Química CSIC-UPV, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Av. de los Naranjos s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carbonell
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ramiro-Manzano
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Avelino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corma
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meseguer
authors.forename: Hermenegildo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: García