Design of Porous Silica Supported Tantalum Oxide Hollow Spheres Showing Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Silica-supported tantalum oxide (ST) hollow spheres were designed for photocatalytic applications in the UV range of 4.1 to 4.8 eV. These nanostructures with a variable diameter of 100-250 nm and shell thickness of 24-58 nm were obtained by the hydrothermal treatment of tantalum isopropoxide and tetraethylorthosilicate at 120 °C for 48 h in the presence of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, which was used as a capping agent. The maximum observed surface area was found to be 610 m(2)/g and pore size distribution of ST hollow spheres varied from 13.4 to 19.0 nm. Lewis acidity of silica and the contact area between SiO2 and Ta2O5 plays a crucial role in controlling the photocatalytic properties of the ST hollow spheres. We observe a remarkable 6× enhancement in the photoactivity of silica-supported tantalum oxide hollow spheres compared to pure Ta2O5.

Oxide-based nanostructures for photocatalytic and electrocatalytic applications

“…Silica-supported tantalum oxide (ST) hollow spheres were designed for photocatalytic applications in the UV range of 4.1 to 4.8 eV and also to combine the efficient adsorption characteristics of mesoporous silica with the photocatalytic properties of Ta 2 O 5 . 79 The design of these nanostructures enables a good interface between SiO 2 and Ta 2 O 5 , which leads to the close proximity of the adsorbed dye and the active site of Ta 2 O 5 on the silica surface. The synthesis process to obtain these nanostructures is simple and can be obtained by the hydrothermal treatment of tantalum isopropoxide and tetraethylorthosilicate at 120 °C for 48 h in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, which was used as a capping agent.…”

Tin sulfide (SnS) nanostructured films deposited by continuous spray pyrolysis (CoSP) technique for dye-sensitized solar cells applications

“…The average pore size is 0.47 nm, which corresponds to the microporous nature of the material. It is reported [31] that high surface area of mesoporous particles shows good performance as a catalyst. It is also reported [32] that due to intrinsic layer crystal structure of SnS with controlled morphologies it possess high surface area, has greater accessibility to the electrolyte, faster transportation of ions, and accelerated phase transition.…”

Synthesis and characterization of hollow mesoporous BaFe12O19 spheres

“…Micro/nano size hollow/porous materials have been of great interest because of their novel properties [2][3][4], such as low density, large surface area, and high permeability, compared with condensed materials. Therefore, they can be widely used for catalyst supports, drug delivery, energy storage, gas sensors and environmental protection [5][6][7][8][9]. Three typical methods have been used to synthesize this structured material: hard-templating [10][11][12][13], soft-templating [14][15][16], and template-free [17,18] methods.…”