Enhanced photocatalytic activity of mesoporous TiO2 with MgO coating

To improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 on decomposing anionic surfactants, MgO-coated mesoporous TiO2 was fabricated by evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) combined with impregnation method. MgO was uniformly dispersed on the surface of TiO2, which played the role of stabilizing the ordered mesostructure of TiO2 and improving the adsorption of anion surfactants, while inhibiting the crystallization of TiO2. The powders coated with 5 wt.% MgO showed the highest photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate-6 (DBS).