Physicochemical and photocatalytic characterization of mesoporous carbon/titanium dioxide spheres

Present study reports a facile sol-gel approach enabling to obtain nanomaterial based on ordered mesoporous carbon spheres functionalized by titanium dioxide. The content of TiO2 was controlled in a facile step of isopropanol washing. The hybrid containing 36 wt% of TiO2 exhibited superior photocatalytic performance in Rhodamine B decomposition under UV light irradiation. Moreover, the presence of carbon in, the composite induced the enhancement of the absorption in visible region and thus the catalyst displayed also improved photocatalytic activity in this process under solar light illumination. The photocatalytic activity of the hybrid was similar to 4 times higher under UV light and 2.5-times higher under solar light irradiation in comparison to the reference samples. The observed phenomena can be explained by (1) high surface area, (2) suitably adjusted core/shell providing greater contact surface between hybrid ingredients and (3) phase composition which is favorable for the efficient photogenerated carrier separation. Here, it was proved that formation of stable mesoporous carbon/titanium dioxide spheres allows to create the efficient photocatalyst, which is active, both, under solar and ultraviolet light irradiation.