Effects of tourmaline on microstructures and photocatalytic activity of TiO2/SiO2 composite powders

The SiO2/TiO2 composite powders including mineral tourmaline powders (T/SiO2/TiO2) were prepared from a sol made by a two-step hydrolysis method, using metasilicate ester as precursor. The powders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photocatalytic activity of the sample was evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. The effects of heat-treatment on the photocatalytic activity were discussed. It is found that the T/SiO2/TiO2 composite powders show higher photocatalytic activity when including 10% SiO2 and 4% tourmaline. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanism of tourmaline on the powders was proposed.