Polydopamine nanotubes-templated synthesis of TiO2 and its photocatalytic performance under visible light

Abstract

Herein, we demonstrated that an efficient TiO₂ visible-light photocatalyst can be fabricated by templating mesoporous polydopamine (PDA) nanotubes. Because PDA is a nitrogen-doped carbon source, PDA nanotubes as templates elicited distinct advantages for obtained mesoporous TiO₂. First, they introduced a codopant of carbon and nitrogen into anatase TiO₂ that narrowed its band gap. Second, they could be graphitized in an optimized calcination process to form graphene-like carbon layers on TiO₂ surfaces with high conductivity, which assisted the separation of photogenerated electron–holes of TiO₂. These features endow TiO₂@C-PDA (400-2) excellent photocatalytic performance for the degradation of methyl orange under visible-light irradiation (>420 nm).