Synthesis of well-ordered mesoporous nanoparticles of TiO2 from Ilmenite with enhanced photocatalytic activity

In this study, TiO2 nanoparticles (<50 nm) with two different mesoporous structures, the well-ordered mesoporous cylindrical pores, and slit-shaped pores, were successfully synthesized using ilmenite as the initial source of titanium. Initially, the Fe was leached out from the ilmenite structure using HCl; then the titanium was subsequently dissolved in an alkaline medium using H2O2 as an oxidizing agent. Afterward, the hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) was used as the structure directing agent and the titanium solution was added to it in order to create a well ordered mesoporous structure. The synthesized cylindrical mesoporous nanoparticles of the synthesized TiO2 had a high surface area with very narrow pore size distribution. The photocatalytic characteristics of the synthesized mesoporous nanoparticles of TiO2 were analyzed and compared with those of nonporous nanoparticles of TiO2 having the same particle sizes. The well-ordered mesoporous nanoparticles of TiO2 indicated higher photodegradation activity to denature the tetracycline (TC) compare to slit-shaped mesoporous nanoparticles of TiO2 as well as the non-porous nanoparticles of TiO2.