High surface area stainless steel wire mesh-supported TiO2 prepared by sacrificial template accelerated hydrolysis. A monolithic photocatalyst superior to P25 TiO2

High surface area stainless steel wire mesh-supported TiO2 catalysts were prepared by sacrificial template accelerated hydrolysis using highly polar stainless steel wire mesh-supported ZnO templates. The monolithic catalysts were tested for the photodegradation of methylene blue in aqueous solution under ultraviolet irradiation. The calcination temperature of the catalysts was observed to have a determinant effect on their catalytic activity. The optimum calcination temperature range was 450–600 °C, in which a combination of high surface area (50–90 m2 g−1), a high degree of crystallinity and a minimum rutile content yielded the best catalytic results, with maximum catalytic activity appearing for a calcination temperature of 450 °C. The most active catalyst prepared in this work displayed twice the catalytic activity of the reference catalyst, P25 TiO2.