title: Enhanced photocatalytic activity of TiO₂-C hybrid aerogels for methylene blue degradation.
abstract: Carbon-based TiO₂ composites have many advantages as photocatalysts. However, they suffer from low light efficiency due to the low contrast of TiO₂ with carbon. We synthesized a novel type of anatase-type TiO₂-C hybrid aerogel by a one-pot sol-gel method, which shows a photocatalytic activity for methylene degradation up to 4.23 times that of P25, a commercial photocatalyst from Degussa Inc. The hybrid aerogels are prepared from TiCl₄ and resorcinol-furfural, and have a tunable macropore size from 167 to 996 nm. They are formed of submicrometer particles that consist of interwoven anatase and carbon nanoparticles. The anatase nanoparticles have a size of 8-9 nm and a tunable oxygen vacancy from 7.2 to 18.0%. The extremely high activity is ascribed to the large light absorption caused by macropore scattering and oxygen vacancies in the anatase. These findings may open up a new avenue and stimulate further research to improve photocatalytic performance.
authors.affiliation: 1] School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, China [2] School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Wencong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pan
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008751:Methylene Blue / Q000737:chemistry*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D016062:Porosity; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; C009495:titanium dioxide; D002244:Carbon; D014025:Titanium; D008751:Methylene Blue