High photocatalytic activity and stability for decomposition of gaseous acetaldehyde on TiO2/Al2O3 composite films coated on foam nickel substrates by sol-gel processes

A set of anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2) films coated on foam nickel that modified by Al2O3 films as transition layer (indicated as TiO2/Al2O3 films) were synthesized via sol-gel route. The bulk and surface properties of the TiO2/Al2O3 films were characterized by thermal gravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and BET. The photocatalytic activities of TiO2/Al2O3 films were investigated based on the degradation of gaseous acetaldehyde under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The foam nickel is a promising substrate material in practical applications because of its excellent hydrodynamic properties for gas passing. The TiO2/Al2O3 composite films showed much higher photocatalytic activity and stability for degradation of gaseous acetaldehyde than the onefold TiO2 films. The significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity and stability can be ascribed to the coating of Al2O3 transition layer, which concentrates the target substances around TiO2 particles and increases the specific surface area (SSA) of the substrate (the SSAs of bare foam nickel and Al2O3 modified foam nickel are 0.12 and 113.7 m(2)/g, respectively) to provide more sites for TiO2 loading.