Templated titania films with meso- and macroporosities

Porous TiO2 films with both mesoporosity and macroporosity were fabricated by a templated sol–gel method for applications, such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC), photocatalysis and catalysis. With the incorporation of differently sized pores, the resultant structures exhibit high surface areas and possess interpenetrating aligned pore channels, which are believed to be beneficial for applications where diffusion of reactants to interior surface can be rate limiting. Both liquid and solid TiO2 precursors can be applied for large area coating in this process. Almost crack-free films were produced by templated coating of pre-synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles. The measured specific surface area and porosity of synthesized films were in the range of 33–137 m2/g and 61–80%, respectively, depending on the size of the selected template.