3D nano-macroporous structured TiO2-foam glass as an efficient photocatalyst for organic pollutant treatment

Abstract

This work reports the preparation of 3D nano-macroporous structured TiO₂-foam glass (p-TiO₂/FG) as an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants in water. Nanoporous TiO₂ film was coated on macroporous foam glass by using a simple sol–gel coating method. In this work, we used waste glass to prepare foam glass with suitable apparent density (0.98 g cm⁻³) and high open porosity, which facilitated direct light absorption by the TiO₂ film. Especially, the foam glass had a high adsorption capability for methylene blue (MB), which increased the quantity of organic pollutant to come in contact with TiO₂ through means of adsorption and hence improved the photo-degradation efficiency. The p-TiO₂/FG exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than that of the TiO₂/FG without a 3D nano-macroporous structure, which was attributed to the increase of reaction sites on p-TiO₂/FG generated from its special 3D nano-macroporous structure. Additionally, the p-TiO₂/FG presented high stability and recyclability, retaining high photocatalytic activity even after 10 cycles, which was mainly attributed to the uniform and stable coating of TiO₂ film on the foam glass.