Fluorinated Mesoporous Anatase TiO2 Microspheres with High Surface and Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity for the Degradation of Methyl Orange

Highly crystalline mesoporous TiO2 microspheres with areas up to 122 m2/g and tunable pore size have been prepared through a combined sol–gel and solvothermal processes. The concentration of NaF exhibits a great effect on the morphology, crystallinity, crystal size and photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 microspheres. A higher NaF concentration results in an increase in the average crystal size and pore size, whereas whereas it caused a decrease in the specific surface areas. All fluorinated TiO2 microspheres showed a higher photocatalytic activity than P25 and pure TiO2 microspheres obtained in the absence of NaF due to the effect of surface fluorination on the photoactivity of TiO2. The approach described in this study provides a simple method to synthesize the micrometer-sized hierarchical structure of mesoporous TiO2 microspheres that are ready for practical applications such as environmental pollutants removal and solar cell because these high active materials can be easily separated.