Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2012, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (2): 342-347.DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1088.2011.10864

• Research papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Mesoporous TiO2 Spheres Prepared by an Acid Catalyzed Hydrolysis Method Using Nanocrystalline Cellulose as Template

LI Wei, ZHAO Ying, LIU Shouxin*   

  1. Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang, China
  • Received:2011-08-27 Revised:2011-10-20 Online:2012-02-20 Published:2015-07-27

Abstract: Mesoporous nanosize TiO2 spheres (SP-TiO2) were prepared using natural polymer nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) as template. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy, and N2 adsorption-desorption were used for the characterization of the SP-TiO2 photocatalyst. The results showed that SP-TiO2 was uniform in size with a diameter of 100–200 nm. SP-TiO2 was composed of smaller crystal particles (10–20 nm). The average mesoporous pore diameter of SP-TiO2 was 8.2–13.5 nm, which increased with increasing calcination temperature. A nano-scale reactor that was formed by bonding between the hydroxyl groups of NCC long-chain can inhibit the growth and aggregation of the TiO2 precursor, promote its self-assembly into spherical structure, and inhibit the phase transformation from anatase to rutile. SP-TiO2 prepared at 600 ºC exhibited the highest activity with the phenol degradation percentage of 89%.

Key words: sphere, mesopore, titania, nanocrystalline cellulose, template, hydrolysis