Synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic studies of copper-doped TiO2 hollow spheres using rape pollen as a novel biotemplate

Copper/titanium dioxide (Cu/TiO2) hollow microspheres were fabricated by direct coating of shells on the surface of rape pollen through an improved sol-gel process. Rape pollen grains were used as biotemplates, and they could be removed easily at high temperature. The average diameter of the as-synthesized hollow spheres was 15-20 mu m, and the thickness of the hollow sphere shells was approximately 0.6 mu m. These hollow microspheres had a higher specific surface area and exhibited stronger adsorptive capacity compared with the commercial p-25 system. The results indicate that Cu/TiO2 hollow microspheres have promising photocatalytic applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.