Mesoporous TiO2 nano-spheres: Electrospray combined sol-gel fabrication and application to organic phosphorus degradation

In this work, electrospray technique combined sol-gel method was used to prepare porous TiO₂ film. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analyses were conducted to examine the chemical composition, phase structure, and surface morphology of the sprayed TiO₂ film. After calcined at 450 °C in air atmosphere for 2 h, mesoporous TiO₂ nano-spheres clusters were formed on the surface of silicon wafer and the average size of nano-spheres was 250 nm. Ti presented as Ti⁴⁺ oxidation state in TiO₂ film, and the TiO₂ film exhibited the anatase phase. The sprayed porous TiO₂ films were employed as photocatalyst to degrade organic phosphorus in water samples. Compared with the TiO₂ film prepared by Sol-Gel spin-coating method, the porous TiO₂ film deposited by electrospray combined sol-gel method showed higher photocatalytic activity.