Hollow hybrid titanate/Au@TiO2 hierarchical architecture for highly efficient photocatalytic application

Hollow hybrid titanate/Au@TiO2 hierarchical architecture consisting of titanate and anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2) loaded with Au nanoparticles was prepared via a sol-impregnation method combined with a hydrothermal etching process. The titanate/Au@TiO2 architecture possesses unique hollow spherical configuration with Au nanoparticles loaded in the middle of titanate and TiO2 shells and allows to be used as a microreactor for photocatalytic application. The hybrid titanate/Au@TiO2 photocatalyst shows significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity on degradation of methylorange (MO) under UV light irradiation due to the lower electron-hole pairs recombination rate arisen from the synergistic effect of titanate-Au-TiO2 in hybrid hierarchical architecture. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.