Titania-Silica Materials for Enhanced Photocatalysis

• Published in: Chemistry : a European journal Vol. 21; no. 50; pp. 18338 - 18344
• Main Authors: Rico-Santacruz, Marisa, Serrano, Elena, Marcì, Giuseppe, García-López, Elisa I., García-Martínez, Javier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 07-12-2015; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Anatase; Calcination; Chemistry; Nanoparticles; organosilane; Oxidation; Photocatalysis; Precursors; propylene epoxidation; sol-gel process; Surfactants; titania-silica; Titanium dioxide; propylene epoxidation; sol-gel process; photocatalysis; organosilane; titania-silica
• ISSN: 0947-6539; 1521-3765
• DOI: 10.1002/chem.201502569

Mesoporous titania–organosilica nanoparticles comprised of anatase nanocrystals crosslinked with organosilica moieties have been prepared by direct co‐condensation of a titania precursor, tetrabuthylortotitanate (TBOT), with two organosilica precursors, 1,4‐bis(triethoxysilyl) benzene (BTEB) and 1,2‐bis(triethoxysilyl) ethane (BTEE), in mild conditions and in the absence of surfactant. These hybrid materials show both high surface areas (200–360 m2 g−1) and pore volumes (0.3 cm3 g−1) even after calcination, and excellent photoactivity in the degradation of rhodamine 6G and in the partial oxidation of propene under UV irradiation, especially after the calcination of the samples. During calcination, there is a change in the TiIV coordination and an increase in the content of SiOTi moieties in comparison with the uncalcined materials, which seems to be responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of hybrid titania–silica materials as compared to both uncalcined samples and the control TiO2.
Perfect match: Mesoporous titania–silicas have been synthesized following a simple and efficient method without the use of surfactants, which led to hybrid materials with enhanced photocatalytic activity in partial oxidation reactions both in the gas–solid regime and the liquid–solid one.