Microemulsion Templating Synthesis of Hierarchical Porous Ag‐Doped SiO₂‐TiO₂ Composites for Efficient Degradation of Noxious Methylene Blue Dye: Effect of Calcination Environment

Abstract

We report herein a dual function mesoporous structure of titanium oxide based porous carbon with large surface‐to‐volume ratios for efficient degradation of noxious methylene blue dye (MB) from an aqueous environment. The mesoporous photocatalysts is fabricated via direct template synthesis of highly ordered silica‐titania monolith doped with Ag0/Ag2O starting from a quaternary microemulsion liquid crystalline phase. The produced monoliths are subjected in‐situ to doping by growing silver, in the cubic cavities, and on the silica/titania structure's domain. This study investigated the efficiency of novel composite materials, consisting of silver‐doped silica‐titania (SiO2/TiO2), which is synthesized using the microemulsion templating approach. The photocatalytic performance of the synthesized composite in the photodegradation of MB has been studied. The procedure of photodegradation was employed to achieve decolorization of the cationic MB dye using visible light. The catalyst effectively achieved the decolorization of the dyed solution through the processes of adsorption and photodegradation. The composite consisting of SiO2, TiO2, and Ag2O at a ratio of 1 : 1:0.5, which underwent calcination in an air environment (AgOST), exhibited a removal efficiency of 99 % compared to its calcined state under argon (AgSTC).