Effects of templating surfactant concentrations on the mesostructure of ordered mesoporous anatase TiO2 by an evaporation-induced self-assembly method

We prepared ordered hexagonal mesoporous TiO2 by an evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method using Pluronic P123 and tetrabutyl orthotitanate (Ti(OBun)4, TBOT) as the templating agent and the titanium source, respectively. The main purpose of this study was to elucidate the effects of surfactant concentrations on the pore arrangement, pore size, specific surface area and structure of mesoporous TiO2 by the EISA method. The mesostructures of mesoporous TiO2 were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). By varying the concentration of the block copolymer, mesoporous TiO2 of various pore sizes and pore ordering were prepared. Because the mesostructure is governed by the concentration of P123 surfactant at gelation of the solution, a higher P123/TBOT mole ratio favored the formation of highly ordered mesoporous TiO2 with a maximum pore volume of 0.26 cm3/g, a high specific surface area of 244 m2/g, and a BJH average pore size of 4.7 nm.