Synthesis and photo-catalytic activity of mesoporous TiO2 fiber using collagen fiber as a template

Mesoporous TiO2 fiber was prepared using collagen fiber as the template and Ti(SO4)2 as the titanium source. The Ti(IV) was loaded on collagen fiber by chelation reaction, and then the mesoporous TiO2 fiber was obtained after heat-treatment to remove the template of collagen fiber. The surface morphology and pore structure of the as-prepared mesoporous TiO2 fiber were characterized by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy, N2 absorption-desorption isothermal method, wide angle XRD and photoluminescence spectra (PL). The experimental results indicated that the mass ratio of Ti(SO4)2 to collagen fiber and calcination temperature significantly influenced the surface morphology and mesoporous structure of TiO2 fiber. When the mass ratio was 8:5 and calcination temperature was 600°C, the morphology of nature collagen fiber was well preserved in the as-prepared mesoporous TiO2 fiber, and the mesoporous structure was in ordered and the pore size distribution was centered in 4.3 nm. The photo-catalytic degradation of acid orange II experiments indicated that the photo-catalytic activity of the as-prepared mesoporous TiO2 fiber was much higher than that of Degussa P25 without mesoporous structure.