Steam-assisted synthesis of uniformly mesoporous anatase and its remarkably superior photocatalytic activities

• Novel steam assisted highly crystalline ordered mesoporous anatase TiO2.
• High surface area with uniformly distributed hexagonal large pores is reported.
• Remarkably higher rate of H2 production from water under one sun light condition.
• Superior photocatalytic dye degradation (MB and 4-CP) under low pressure Hg lamp.
• The extended crystalline interconnection decreases the band gap energy by 0.22 eV.

The steam treatment of hexagonally ordered uniformly mesoporous (h-UM) amorphous TiO2 at 120 °C for 1 h leads to highly crystalline h-UM anatase. This process is feasible for the large scale (>50 g) preparation. The surface area-normalized photocatalytic activities of h-UM anatase for water reduction and methylene blue and 4-chlorophenol decompositions are remarkably superior to those of wormhole-like randomly mesoporous anatase and anatase nanoparticles, demonstrating an important reason to prepare anatase in UM forms. Due to the extended crystalline interconnection, the band gap energy h-UM anatase decreases by 0.22 eV with respect to that of 25 nm anatase nanoparticle.

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