Synthesis and characterization of TiO2-montmorillonite nanocomposites and their photocatalytic activity

TiO2 nanoparticles have been synthesized on the surface of exfoliated montmorillonite at a low temperature in benzyl alcohol medium. According to X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm and transmisson electron microscopy (TEM), it was found that the intercalation of TiO2 nanoparticles destroyed the ordered structure of montmorillonite to some extent, and the crystallites of the nanocomposites are assembled to form a house-of-cards structure. The size of the nanoparticles in the interlamellar space is about 4 nm. The nanocomposites exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity in methylene blue degradation due to the synergetic effect of the adsorptive ability to organic compound of cetyl trimethylammonium bromide—montmorillonite and the catalytic ability of TiO2 nanoparticles in it.