Photocatalytic degradation of formaldehyde using mesoporous TiO₂ prepared by evaporation-induced self-assembly

Abstract

The mesoporous TiO₂ has been synthesized by evaporation induced self assembly (EISA) method. The thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetric (TG/DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and N₂ adsorption desorption and adsorption are used to study the effects of the synthesized process condition on the microstructure of the as-synthesized mesoporous TiO₂. The photocatalytic performances of as-synthesized samples are evaluated by the degradation of the formaldehyde under ultraviolet light irradiations. The results demonstrate that the as-synthesized mesoporous TiO₂ are anatase with the uniform size about 20–40 nm. The sample is prepared using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the template with average pore size distribution of 8.12 nm, specific surface area of 68.47 m²/g and pore volume of 0.213 mL/g. The samples show decomposition of formaldehyde 95.8% under ultraviolet light irradiations for 90 min. These results provide a basic experimental process for preparation mesoporous TiO₂, which will posses a broad prospect in terms of the applications in improving indoor air quality.

Keywords

mesoporous TiO₂ / photocatalysis / formaldehyde / evaporation induced self assembly (EISA)

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