Preparation of Ag-doped mesoporous titania and its enhanced photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation

Ag-doped mesoporous titania was synthesized via a combined sol–gel process with surfactant-assisted templating method using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the structure-directing agent. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption–desorption measurements (BET) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activity of the samples was determined by degradation of model contaminant water of phenol in aqueous solution. Results showed that different amounts of Ag-doping had different effects on the crystal phase structure and photocatalytic activity of the samples. The sample with 0.5% Ag doping shows the highest photocatalytic activity, which is 2.3 times that of the undoped mesoporous titania.