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Inorganic–organic core–shell titania nanoparticles for efficient visible light activated photocatalysis

2012; Elsevier BV; Volume: 130-131; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.apcatb.2012.10.007

1873-3883

Nikolaos G. Moustakas, A. Kontos, V. Likodimos, Fotios K. Katsaros, Nikos Boukos, D. Tsoutsou, A. Dimoulas, George E. Romanos, D.D. Dionysiou, Polycarpos Falaras,

Advanced Nanomaterials in Catalysis

Abstract Nanostructured modified TiO 2 (m-TiO 2 ) was synthesized using the gel combustion method based on the calcination of an acidified alkoxide solution mixed with urea. The materials were characterized by Raman, FT-IR and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopies, transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopies (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), in comparison with reference material untreated with urea (ref-TiO 2 ). The effect of both the urea content and calcination temperature were optimized, providing the optimal absorption threshold of 2.19 eV for solar light harvesting. The photocatalytic performance of the m-TiO 2 powder was tested for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) azo dye under UVA (350–365 nm), visible (440–460 nm), and daylight (350–750 nm) illumination. The hybrid inorganic/organic material shows exceptional physicochemical properties and significant photocatalytic activity, especially in the visible, attributed to sensitization of the TiO 2 by a thin porous layer of carbonacious species in controlled core–shell morphology.