Facile fabrication of CuPp-TiO2 mesoporous composite: An excellent and robust heterostructure photocatalyst for 4-nitrophenol degradation

An excellent mesoporous CuPp-TiO2 photocatalyst was prepared by the self-assemble of TiO2 with metalloporphyrin-copper(II) following a solvothermal treatment. The c-CuPp-TiO2 was obtained by calcinating CuPp-TiO2 at 450 degrees C to investigate the effect of CuPp on photocatalytic activity. The SEM images indicate that CuPp-TiO2 is microspheres with mean diameter of 29.01 nm. The TEM images reveal that there exists the heterojunction structure in CuPp-TiO2, which improved catalytic activity of CuPp-TiO2 obviously. Additionally, N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherm curves show high superficial area and the mesoporous structure of CuPp-TiO2. The experiment of photodegradation 4-nitrophenol indicate that the CuPp-TiO2 reveals superior photocatalytic activity and wonderful cycling performance with the photocatalytic efficiency of 86.69% even after six cycles. The Cu(II) porphyrins in the CuPp-TiO2 can act as a small-band-gap semiconductor to absorb visible light, prolonging the separation time of electron-hole. On the basis of above properties, the CuPp-TiO2 is prominent photocatalyst. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.