Abstract
A facile synthesis route is reported for preparation of mesoporous TiO 2 nanoparticles (MT-x) through evaporation induced self-assembly by using Pluronic F127, titanium isopropoxide, and various amounts of ethanol as templating agents, titanium sources and solvents, respectively. A variety of different spectroscopic and analytical techniques, such as small- and large-angle powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), N 2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of various MT-x catalysts. Among the catalysts, MT-20 was found to have better mesostructures formed by the arrangement of anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles of ca. 17.3 nm with broad interparticle pore size distribution. Hydrogen generation from water splitting on MT-20 using visible light was enhanced by at least 8.7 times if compared with the conventional TiO 2 photocatalyst. The superior photocatalytic performances observed for the synthesized MT-20 may be attributed to the presence of unique nanostructures in the TiO 2 photocatalysts.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 300-304 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy |
Volume | 95 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 Sep 1 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Analytical Chemistry
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Instrumentation
- Spectroscopy