Self-assembly hydrothermal assisted synthesis of mesoporous anatase in the presence of ethylene glycol

Mesoporous nanocrystalline anatase was prepared hydrothermally employing P123 as structure-directing agent. Ethylene glycol was used as a key synthesis parameter to fine tune the morphology, crystal size and pore size of the resultant mesophases. The incorporation of EG in the synthesis gel resulted in the formation of 1–2 μm sphere-like shapes and led to an increase in the specific surface area from ∼95 to ∼170 m2/g, decrease in the average pore size from ∼11 to ∼4.8 nm, and decrease in the average crystallite size from ∼17 to ∼12 nm. These mesophases were used as photocatalysts for the UV degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange. The mesoporous anatase phases photodegraded MB ∼1.5–3× faster than commercially available P25 and showed limited photocatalytic behavior for methyl orange.