Synthesis of activated carbon-surrounded and carbon-doped anatase TiO2 nanocomposites

Ying-Feng Lee; Kuo-Hsin Chang; Chi-Chang Hu; Kuo-Min Lin

doi:10.1039/C0JM00286K

Synthesis of activated carbon-surrounded and carbon-doped anatase TiO₂ nanocomposites†

Ying-Feng Lee,^a Kuo-Hsin Chang,^ab Chi-Chang Hu*^a and Kuo-Min Lin^a

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan
E-mail: cchu@che.nthu.edu.tw
Fax: +886-3-5715408
Tel: +886-3-5736027

^b Department of Chemical Engineering, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi, Taiwan

Abstract

A specially designed photocatalytic structure, i.e., carbon-doped anatase-TiO₂ (A-TiO_2−xC_x) nanocrystallites surrounded with activated carbon (AC), is synthesized by a simple one-step carbonization of a self-assembled matrix consisting of titanium tetra-isopropoxide (TTIP) and triblock copolymer. The self-assembled copolymer homogeneously disperses TTIP and possesses a steric inhibition of A-TiO₂ grain growth and aggregation during the carbonization step, reducing the average grain size of the A-TiO₂ nanocrystallites. An additional merit of this simple process, the facile formation of visible-light-driven photocatalysts through carbon-doping, is attributable to the retention of few-nanometre-sized A-TiO₂ clusters during the carbonization step. The porous AC of high specific surface area within the novel A-TiO_2−xC_x-AC nanocomposites shows excellent adsorption ability for concentrating organics at the vicinity of A-TiO_2−xC_x nanocrystallites. Unlike the A-TiO₂ crystals, the synergy between C-doped A-TiO₂ and AC definitely promotes the visible-light photo-induced degradation efficiency of organics.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C0JM00286K
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 03 Feb 2010
Accepted: 09 Apr 2010
First published: 03 Jun 2010

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J. Mater. Chem., 2010,20, 5682-5688

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Synthesis of activated carbon-surrounded and carbon-doped anatase TiO₂ nanocomposites

Y. Lee, K. Chang, C. Hu and K. Lin, J. Mater. Chem., 2010, 20, 5682 DOI: 10.1039/C0JM00286K

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Journal of Materials Chemistry