Improved adsorption and catalysis performance of biomorphic porous TiO2 with wood template size scaling

Abstract

Abstract Biomorphic TiO2 photocatalysts with hierarchical porous structures by templating with different size scales of wood processing residues (lignocellulose, wood flour, and solid wood as biological templates) through a simple sol-gel method is proposed for photocatalytic degradation applications. Compared with template-free TiO2, the biomorphic TiO2 had a good adsorption capacity and photocatalytic performance with methylene blue (MB) and phenol. The lignocellulose-templated TiO2 reached adsorption equilibrium within 60 min because of the hierarchical structure of the complex interlaced wood. It exhibited 98.9% and 84.3% degradation of MB and phenol within 60 min under visible light conditions. The multiscale structure of the wood templates enhanced light absorption and mass transfer efficiency due to the presence of additional surface hydroxyl groups and a reduced bandgap. This research proposes a convenient synthesis method to obtain biomorphic TiO2 using wood residues, and construct the physical- chemical interaction between wood and TiO2 to enhance visible light response and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers.