Preparation and characterization of mesoporous TiO2-pillared titanate photocatalyst

Mesoporous anatase TiO2-pillared titanate has been successfully prepared by the exfoliation-restacking route. The resulting nanocomposite was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis, IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy, specific surface area and porosity measurements. It was revealed that the present nanocomposite exhibits greatly expanded specific surface area (similar to 200 m(2) g(-1)) with 2.8- and 6.6-nm-in-diameter mesopore structure, and that there exists an electronic coupling between the host titanate sheets and the guest anatase TiO2 nanoparticles in the pillared system. The results of degradation of methylene blue under ultraviolet and visible radiation show that the present nanocomposite exhibits much higher photocatalytic activities than that of TiO2 nanoparticles or layered titanate alone, which are based on the bandgap excitation and the dye sensitization.