Preparation of nanoporous titania photocatalyst with high photocatalytic activity using metatitanic acid

High photocatalytic activity nanoporous titanium oxide (TiO₂) was prepared at low temperature by simple chemical method, using low-cost metatitanic acid and sodium hydroxide as raw materials. The XRD pattern shows that the phase composition of titania is anatase and the crystallite size is around 10 nm. From SEM, TEM images and BET analysis, the nanoporous TiO2 aggregates display mesoporous structure and the surface area of the sample is 231.28 m²g-1. The FTIR spectrum of the porous TiO₂ aggregates shows no other bands in the spectrum except Ti-O vibrating and the surface adsorbed water and the hydroxyl groups. The photocatalytic activity of the sample is about 4 times of P-25 by decomposing the methylene blue under UV light irradiation through photocatalytic test.