Influence of residual carbon on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2/C samples for phenol oxidation

TiO2 nanoparticles have been prepared by a novel alkoxide sol–gel precipitation. The presence of active carbon in different percentages could act as an interesting template. Upon calcination, carbon is eliminated leaving surface features significantly different from TiO2 prepared in the absence of carbon. Influence of calcination temperature and times will be studied. Detailed surface and structural characterisation of samples have been carried out. The correlations between residual carbon percentage after thermal treatment and photoactivity during phenol oxidation are reported.