Photocatalytic Activity of TiO₂-containing Al-Mesoporous Silica Thin Films

Abstract

The photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ coated on Al-modified folded mesoporous silica thin films (Al-MSF), TiO₂/Al-MSF and Ti-, Al-MSF, has been investigated by monitoring the decomposition of methylene blue (MB). The TiO₂/Al-MSF and Ti-, Al-MSF were prepared on substrates by two independent procedures, i.e., ion-exchange and sol-gel. The Ti-, Al-MSF was found to exhibit higher reactivity than TiO₂/Al-MSF, while both films showed higher performance than conventional powdered TiO₂. A detailed analysis of the origin of the photocatalytic reactivity for these TiO₂ coated Al-modified mesoporous silica thin films toward the decomposition of MB is presented here.