TiO2 supported on rod-like mesoporous silica SBA-15: Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic behaviour

TiO2 nanoparticles have been successfully incorporated in the pores of mesoporous silica SBA-15 with different morphologies by a wet impregnation method. The composites were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) emission spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2-sorption and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) was used to study their photocatalytic property. It is indicated that the morphology of SBA-15 had a great influence on the photocatalytic activity of the composites. When TiO2/SBA-15 composite was prepared by loading TiO2 nanoparticles on uniform rod-like SBA-15 of 1 μm length, it showed higher photocatalytic degradation rate than that on less regular but much larger SBA-15 support. This difference was rationalized in terms of the homogeneously distributed and shorter channels of rod-like SBA-15, which favored mass transport and improved the efficient utilization of the pore surface.

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► Rod-like SBA-15 and normal SBA-15 were used to prepare TiO2/SBA-15 composites.
► TiO2/SBA-15 composites were studied as catalysts for methyl orange photodegradation.
► TiO2/Rod-SBA-15 exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than TiO2/Nor-SBA-15.
► The higher catalytic activity was a result of the controlled morphology of SBA-15.