Highly photoreactive TiO_2 hollow microspheres with super thermal stability for acetone oxidation

TiO2hollow microspheres(TiO2‐HMSs)have attracted much attention because of their high photoreactivity,low density,and good permeability.However,anatase TiO2‐HMSs have poor thermal stability.In this study,surface‐fluorinated TiO2‐HMSs were assembled from hollow nanoparticles by the hydrothermal reaction of the mixed Ti(SO4)2–NH4HF–H2O2solution at180°C.The effect of the calcination temperature on the structure and photoreactivity of the TiO2‐HMSs was systematically investigated,which was evaluated by photocatalytic oxidation of acetone in air under ultraviolet irradiation.We found that after calcination at300°C,the photoreactivity of the TiO2‐HMSs decreases from1.39×10?3min?1(TiO2‐HMS precursor)to0.82×10?3min?1because of removal of surface‐adsorbed fluoride ions.With increasing calcination temperature from300to900°C,the building blocks of the TiO2‐HMSs evolve from truncated bipyramidal shaped hollow nanoparticles to round solid nanoparticles,and the photoreactivity of the TiO2‐HMSs steady increases from0.82×10?3to2.09×10?3min?1because of enhanced crystallization.Further increasing the calcination temperature to1000and1100°C results in a decrease of the photoreactivity,which is ascribed to a sharp decrease of the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area and the beginning of the anatase–rutile phase transformation at1100°C.The effect of surface‐adsorbed fluoride ions on the thermal stability of the TiO2‐HMSs is also discussed.

Au Nanoparticles Loaded on Hollow TiO2 Microspheres with （001） Exposed Facets： a Strategy for Promoting Photocatalytic Performance

Au nanoparticles loaded TiO2 hollow microspheres with exposed （001） facets（Au-HTFs） were synthesized through template-free hydrothermal process combined with a chemical reduction role. Au-HTFs displayed excellent photocatalytic activity in catalyzing oxidization reaction in organic pollutant system, which originates from the synergistic effect of the reactive （001） facets and Au nanoparticles with a wide range of absorption in visible region based on localized surface plasmon resonance effect. The unique synergistic effect could largely increase the photocatalytic performance resulting from the improvements of both the visible light aborption and the recombination of electron-hole pairs. Our findings revealed that among Au-HTFs with different Au loading percentages, Au-HTFs with 2%（mass fraction） Au loading possessed the superior photocatalytic activity.