Peroxo method for the preparation of photocatalytically active titania spheres for emerging micropollutant degradation

Abstract

The proposed method for preparation of titania spherical particles proves to be the promising alternative to the widespread template and alkoxide-based procedures. It has been shown that the porosity of TiO2 spheres can be easily controlled by manipulating the synthetic conditions (e.g. solvent, thermal treatment technique, calcination temperature). The photodegradation of the commonly used fragrance MPET goes through the formation of toxic p-cresol, but both the substrate and undesirable intermediates are completely decomposed by the commercial P25 and the photocatalysts prepared by the proposed peroxo method. The titania spheres exhibit high photocatalytic activity and demonstrated good recyclability, making their utilization preferable to the unrecoverable commercial TiO2 nanoparticles.