SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MESOPOROUS NANOSTRUCTURED TiO2-Al2O3 PHOTOCATALYTIC SYSTEM

In the TiO2-Al2O3 photocatalytic system, anatase (tetragonal titania phase) crystallizes at low temperatures from amorphous materials prepared by the simultaneous hydrolysis of titanium and aluminium alkoxides. In this work, nanostructured mesoporous TiO2-Al2O3 photocatalyst, with 10, 20 and 30% Al2O3, were obtained by sol-gel hydrothermal synthesis and molecular self-assembly using Tween 20 as a surfactant. They were then calcined at 400 degrees C, at this temperature, only the anatase phase was obtained; specific surface areas up to 297 m(2)/g were obtained with mean pore diameters from 6.6 to 9.2 nm presented type IV isotherms. The morphology and nanostructure of the obtained TiO2-Al(2)O(3)mesoporous photocatalyst were observed by SEM, TEM and HRTEM. Mean crystallite sizes from 4 to 5 nm were determined by TEM analysis.