Development of Porous Titania Structure with Improved Photocatalytic Activity: Response Surface Modeling and Multi-Objective Optimization

Abstract

Porous titania was successfully synthesized by an ultrasound-assisted sol-gel route. The synthesis process was empirically modeled and optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM). Input variables adopted for optimization dealt with the weight ratio of precursors (r) and the sonication time (t), representing the used factors in the synthesis procedure. With regard to application, the synthesized TiO2 samples were tested for the photodegradation of two water-soluble organic pollutants under UV–Vis irradiation. Optimal conditions for the efficient pollutants’ photodegradation were found to involve a precursors ratio of 3 and a sonication time of 60 min. Thus, the M5 sample prepared under the founded optimal conditions yielded the maximal removal efficiencies of 98.4% and 46.3% for the photodegradation of CR dye and 2,4-D herbicide, respectively. In addition, the photodegradation kinetics revealed the pseudo first-order rate constants, showing the photodegradation of CR (k1 = 8.86 × 10−2 min−1) by M5 sample is about 1.3-fold faster than the photodegradation of 2,4-D pesticide (k2 = 6.84 × 10−2 min−1).

Tailoring Mesoporous Titania Features by Ultrasound-Assisted Sol-Gel Technique: Effect of Surfactant/Titania Precursor Weight Ratio

“…As already described for conventional sol-gel synthesis, the same reactants were used in the ultrasound-assisted sol-gel synthesis of titania samples. The ultrasound-assisted sol-gel synthesis procedure has been reported by the authors in their previous work [ 13 ]. Thus, when the clear solution of F127 surfactant in 50/50 (wt/wt.…”

“…Recently, we applied ultrasonation to the sol-gel synthesis method of mesoporous titania nanoparticles. The synthesis process was empirically modeled and optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM), leading to a successful mesoporous titania structure [ 13 ]. The later experiments, conducted to new findings in this field of research, and further, the obtained results, will be presented.…”