Anatase TiO2-pillared hexaniobate mesoporous nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic activity

• DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2011.06.003
• Publication Date: 2011-06-25T20:49:32Z
• Authors: Bai-Huan Xu; Bi-Zhou Lin; Qin-Qin Wang; Xue-Tao Pian; Ou Zhang; Li-Mei Fu
• Keywords: Thermogravimetric analysis; Exfoliation joint; Photoexcitation; Specific surface area

Abstract Mesoporous anatase TiO2-pillared hexaniobate has been successfully prepared by an exfoliation–restacking route. The resulting nanocomposite was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis, UV–Vis spectroscopy and N2 adsorption–desorption measurements. It was reveal that the obtained material has a gallery height of about 2 nm, a specific surface area of about 170 m2/g and a wide pore size distribution with two extrema at about 2 and 3 nm. The mesoporous material exhibits an enhanced photocatalytic activity in the degradation of acid red G under ultraviolet light irradiation, attributed to its high surface area, mesoporosity and the electronic coupling between the host and the guest components. A photoexcitation model in the semiconductor–semiconductor pillared photocatalyst was proposed based on the results of XPS and UV–Vis.