Novel preparation and photocatalytic activity of one-dimensional TiO2 hollow structures

Usually, templated methods include two important steps: the coating of nanocrystals on the surface of the templates and the removal of the templates. In this study, one-dimensional TiO2 hollow structures, based on the template-directed deposition and then in situ template-sacrificial reaction ( or dissolution), were prepared by a one-step template method using vanadium oxide nanobelts as the templates and TiF4 as the precursor at 60 degrees C. The coating of TiO2 nanoparticles on the surface of the templates was accompanied with the dissolution of vanadium oxide nanobelts by HF produced during the hydrolysis of TiF4 in the reaction solution. It was found that the prepared one-dimensional TiO2 hollow structures with a mesoporous wall were composed of TiO2 nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 - 55 nm, resulting in a large specific surface area (77.2 m(2) g(-1)) and high pore volume (0.13 cm(3) g(-1)), and the wall thickness of the TiO2 hollow structures could be easily controlled by adjusting the precursor concentration of TiF4. The photocatalytic activity experiment indicated that the prepared one-dimensional TiO2 hollow structures, which could be readily separated from a slurry system after photocatalytic reaction, exhibited obvious photocatalytic activity for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange aqueous solution.