title: Interfacial chemical bonding effect on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2-SiO2 nanocoupling systems.
abstract: TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited on the surfaces of SiO(2) microspheres with a mesoporous structure prepared by a hydrolysis-controlled sol-gel technique. The TiO(2) NPs were firmly combined on the surfaces of SiO(2) microspheres through the interfacial Si-O-Ti bonds. The coupling causes the bandgap widening up to 3.37 eV, enhancing the photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of acetaldehyde under illumination of UV-light (330 < λ < 400 nm). Density functional theory calculations for model clusters suggested that the observed results are derived from the lowering in the valence band edge energy with the interfacial bond formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Science and Engineering, Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashi-Osaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Musashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujishima
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takatori
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tada