High surface area TiO2/SBA-15 nanocomposites: Synthesis, microstructure and adsorption-enhanced photocatalysis

Mesoporous SBA-15 was used to anchor TiO2 nanoparticles into the mesopores to form high surface area TiO2 /SBA-15 nanocomposites, and then the influence of mesoporous-structure on the photocatalytic performance was investigated. TiO2/SBA-15 nanocomposites possessed the high specific surface area and appropriate pore size, indicating the excellent adsorption performance. TiO2 /SBA-15 nanocomposites exhibited the higher photocatalytic activity to degrade dyes (methylene blue: MB) than TiO2 (removing SBA-15), which should attributed to the excellent adsorption performance of the nanocomposites. MB was absorbed to form the higher concentration near TiO2 /SBA-15 photocatalysts, and the photocatalytic degradation for MB was improved. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.