Abstract: The nanocrystalline TiO2 aerogel was prepared by a novel epoxide-mediated non-alkoxide sol-gel method, and the catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption and transmission electron microscopy. The influence of the preparation conditions on the textural properties of the TiO2 aerogels was investigated, and the catalyst activity was tested by using phenol degradation as the model reaction. When H2O/TiCl4 molar ratio is 3, the prepared TiO2 aerogel has the smallest crystallite size and the biggest surface area, and the catalyst shows the highest activity for phenol degradation.

Key words: titanium dioxide, aerogel, phenol, degradation, propylene epoxide, sol-gel