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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