Facile synthesis of mesoporous Pt-doped, titania-silica nanocomposites as highly photoactive under visible light

Abstract

Mesoporous titania-silica (MTO) and mesoporous Pt-doped titania-silica (Pt@MTO) nanocomposites were synthesized by a facile synthesis procedure, and then, the nanocomposites were analyzed through a diverse range of techniques. XRD peaks and HRTEM images showed that the anatase phase of MTO and platinum was doped on the surface of the morphology of MTO as dots with an average size of 6 nm. Pt metallic nanoparticles were present in samples highly dispersed into mesoporous MTO. The varying portion of doping with Pt in the samples has a positive impact on the surface characteristics of nanocomposites. In addition, the increased ratio of Pt metallic nanoparticles in the samples reduced the band gap energies to 2.12 eV for 2.0% Pt@MTO and reduced the intensity of the emission spectrum by shifting the emission spectrum to a higher wavelength. The photocatalytic activity was measured by the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) in the suspension. The 1.5% Pt@MTO photocatalyst fully photodegraded CIP after 60 min of irradiation. That performance exhibited excellent stability and recyclability.

Keywords

• Pt-doped TiO2
• Ciprofloxacin
• Sol-gel
• Photodegradation
• Visible Light