Preparation and characterization of mesoporous SBA-15 supported dye-sensitized TiO2 photocatalyst

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an excellent photocatalysis material for environmental purification. In order to increase the specific surface area and expand the wavelength range of excitation to visible region, dye-sensitized TiO2 nanoparticles were fabricated onto the mesoporous silica material. In combination with sol–gel method, TiO2, subsequently the quinacridone molecules were fabricated onto the inner pore wall of mesoporous SBA-15 silica. The hybrid material was characterized by FTIR, solid-state UV–vis spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm measurement, high-resolution TEM, and thermal analysis, respectively. The photocatalytic efficiency of such material was evaluated preliminarily. The resulting material still keeps the original hexagonal structure of SBA-15, and shows enhanced photocatalytic efficiency of decomposing indigo carmine than anatase TiO2 and Ti-modified SBA-15 by using visible light irradiation.