Preparation of Photoactive TiO2/LTA Zeolite Composites by Solution Technology in Hydrothermal Conditions

For the first time, using solution technology in a reactor under pressure, composites of titanium oxide and LTA zeolite containing 50, 70, and 80% TiO2 were obtained. The materials were characterized by XRD, IR spectroscopy, SEM, energy-dispersive microanalysis, and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption. The adsorption and photocatalytic properties of the composites were studied using the model dye Rhodamine B as an example. The surface morphology and the textural, adsorption, and photocatalytic properties of the resulting composites, as well as the phase composition of TiO2, largely depend on the degree of coverage of the surface of the zeolite. For 80% TiO2/LTA composites, a degree of coverage close to 100% was observed, and it is for this composition, with a size of TiO2 crystallites of about 11 nm and an anatase/rutile phase ratio of about 0.54, that the highest photocatalytic activity was found.