Flower-shaped anatase TiO2 mesostructures with excellent photocatalytic properties

The present paper reports a simple route to fabricate high surface area anatase TiO2 mesoflowers from electrospun TiO2-SiO2 composite nanostructures. Electrospun fiber- and rice-shaped TiO2-SiO2 composite nanostructures upon treatment with concentrated alkali (NaOH) under hydrothermal conditions (180 degrees C) result in chemical transformation of the TiO2 and in situ etching of SiO2 to give sodium titanates. The sodium titanate upon acidification followed by a low temperature sintering (180 degrees C) results in 3D TiO2 mesoflowers. The material is found to be superior to the commercial P-25 in photocatalysis.