title: TiO2-coated mesoporous carbon: conventional vs. microwave-annealing process.
abstract: The study of coating mesoporous carbon materials with titanium oxide nanoparticles is now becoming a promising and challenging area of research. To optimize the use of carbon materials in various applications, it is necessary to attach functional groups or other nanostructures to their surface. The combination of the distinctive properties of mesoporous carbon materials and titanium oxide is expected to be applied in field emission displays, nanoelectronic devices, novel catalysts, and polymer or ceramic reinforcement. But, their synthesis is still largely based on conventional techniques, such as wet impregnation followed by chemical reduction of the metal nanoparticle precursors, which takes time and money. The thermal heating based techniques are time consuming and often lack control of particle size and morphology. Hence, since there is a growing interest in microwave technology, an alternative way of power input into chemical reactions through dielectric heating is the use of microwaves. This work is focused on the advantages of microwave-assisted synthesis of TiO2-coated mesoporous carbon over conventional thermal heating method. The reviewed studies showed that the microwave-assisted synthesis of such composites allows processes to be completed within a shorter reaction time allowing the nanoparticles formation with superior properties than that obtained by conventional method.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Materials Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, "Al. I. Cuza" University, Boulevard, Carol I, No. 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coromelci-Pastravanu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Materials Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, "Al. I. Cuza" University, Boulevard, Carol I, No. 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania; "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A, Gr. Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania. Electronic address: maria.ignat@uaic.ro.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ignat
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Materials Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, "Al. I. Cuza" University, Boulevard, Carol I, No. 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Evelini
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Popovici
authors.affiliation: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A, Gr. Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Harabagiu
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008872:Microwaves; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D010782:Photolysis; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D004396:Coloring Agents; C009495:titanium dioxide; C100258:methyl orange; D002244:Carbon; D014025:Titanium
keywords: Composite photocatalyst; Conventional heating; Improved photoactivity; Microwaves