Preparation and photocatalytic properties of silica gel-supported TiO2

Silica gel-supported TiO2 was successfully prepared by post-synthesis hydrolytic restructuring method. The surface morphology and structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared (IR) spectra, respectively. TiO2 content was determined by the H2TiO2(SO4)2 colorimetric method and the specific surface area of the samples was investigated by BET method. The photocatalytic efficiency and adsorption properties of the samples were tested on methylene blue solution. The results showed that the sample of 5-TiO2/silica gel possessed the highest activity and its photodegradation ratio to methylene blue was 90.96% when the reaction time (t) was 60 min. Kinetics of the photodegradation process in the presence of the catalyst tended to follow first-order reaction.