Hydrophobic Carbon-Doped TiO2/MCF-F Composite as a High Performance Photocatalyst

A novel hydrophobic photocatalyst carbon-doped TiO2/MCF-F was prepared by using silica mesoporous cellular foam (MCF) as host material, glucose as carbon source, and NH4F as hydrophobic modifying agent. It was confirmed that titania nanoparticles were loaded in pore of MCF by XRD, N-2 sorption isotherms, and TEM. The loaded titania nanoparticles exhibited higher photocatalytic performance. UV-vis absorption spectra and XPS suggested carbon atoms were doped in the lattice of titania by replacing titanium atoms and narrowed the band gap so that visible light absorption and photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst were highly promoted. On the other hand, water contact angle measurement and XPS proved that the photocatalyst was endowed with hydrophobic property, which was caused by Si-F bonds. Carbon-doped TiO2/MCF-F photocatalyst showed good adsorptive ability and photocatalytic activity in the photodegradation test of methyl orange under visible light.