In situ synthesis of Ti3+ self-doped mesoporous TiO2 as a durable photocatalyst for environmental remediation

This study developed a facile approach for in situ synthesis of a Ti3+ self-doped mesoporous TiO2 photocatalyst by an evaporation-induced self-assembly method using TiCl3, water, and F127 as the titanium precursor, solvent, and soft template agent, respectively. The as-prepared samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction, N-2 adsorption-desorption measurements, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance, and transmission electron microscopy. The influence of different reaction parameters such as the dosage of F127 and calcination temperature on the photocatalytic performance of the resulting products was evaluated. The optimized product exhibited high photocatalytic activity and stability in the oxidation of nitric oxide in air and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. The excellent photocatalytic performance of the Ti3+ self-doped mesoporous TiO2 photocatalyst is attributed to the cooperation between the mesoporous structure and self-doped Ti3+ enhancing light absorption and effectively suppressing the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. (C) 2015, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.