Enhanced photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide supported on hexagonal mesoporous silica at lower coverage

The photocatalytic activities of titanium dioxide (TiO2) supported on hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS), zeolite Y (NaY) were investigated by using the photodegradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) as test reactions. It was found that the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 on HMS was much higher than that of TiO2 powders, and that of TiO2 on NaY. It was also found that TiO2/HMS had maximal photocatalytic activity at a lower Ti content. The larger the pore size of HMS used as the support of TiO2, the better the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 for degradating of organic pollutant. These observations suggested that the supported structure was a main factor responsible for enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. Characterization of the samples by TEM, XRD, BET, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra indicated that the structures of HMS and TiO2 were confirmed and TiO2 did not enter into the HMS framework and was formed as nanoparticles on all supports.