Issue 52, 2016

Anatase TiO2 nanoparticle coating on porous COK-12 platelets as highly active and reusable photocatalysts

Abstract

Nanoscale TiO2 photocatalysts are widely used for biomedical applications, self-cleaning processes and wastewater treatments. The impregnation/deposition of TiO2 nanoparticles is indispensable for facile handling and separation as well as the improvement of their photocatalytic performance. In the present study, ordered mesoporous COK-12 silica thin platelets with a high-aspect-ratio and rough surfaces are demonstrated as a potential nanoporous support for homogeneous TiO2 nanoparticle coatings with high loading up to 16.7 wt%. The photocatalytic composite of COK-12 platelets and TiO2 nanoparticles is characterized in detail by HRSEM, SAXS, XRD, N2 physisorption analysis, solid-state UV-vis spectroscopy, HAADF-STEM, EDX analysis, and electron tomography. HAADF-STEM-EDX and electron tomography studies reveal a homogeneous dispersion of nanosized TiO2 nanoparticles over COK-12 platelets. The final composite material with anatase TiO2 nanoparticles that demonstrate a blueshifted semiconductor band gap energy of 3.2 eV coated on a highly porous COK-12 support shows exceptional photocatalytic catalytic activity for photodegradation of organic dyes (rhodamine 6G and methylene blue) and an organic pollutant (1-adamantanol) under UV light radiation, outperforming the commercial P25 TiO2 (Degussa) catalyst.

Graphical abstract: Anatase TiO2 nanoparticle coating on porous COK-12 platelets as highly active and reusable photocatalysts

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Mar 2016
Accepted
03 May 2016
First published
05 May 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 46678-46685

Anatase TiO2 nanoparticle coating on porous COK-12 platelets as highly active and reusable photocatalysts

L. H. Wee, M. Meledina, S. Turner, K. Custers, S. Kerkhofs, S. P. Sree, E. Gobechiya, C. E. A. Kirschhock, G. Van Tendeloo and J. A. Martens, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 46678 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA06141A

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