Solvothermal Synthesis of Mesoporous TiO₂ Using Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue

Mesoporous titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photocatalysts were synthesized via a solvothermal method using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as templates. The effect of the SDS concentration and solution pH value on the resulting TiO₂ catalyst and its photocatalytic activity were studied. The photocatalytic activity was assessed by degradation methylene blue under low-power (8W × 4) UV light irradiation. The best performance showed that over 95% of methylene blue was degraded in 120 min and in the presence of S20 (20 mmol SDS addition, pH = 4). With the optimal addition of SDS, the crystal size was reduced, and the surface area was increased. In addition, some bidentate-sulfates (–SO₄²⁻) residues were observed within the prepared mesoporous TiO₂. The Detail characterization of of the as-prepared TiO₂ samples were conducted by X-ray diffraction, Ultraviolet–Visible Spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscope, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively.