Hierarchically Porous, Biphasic, and C-Doped TiO for Solar Photocatalytic Degradation of Dyes and Selective Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol.

Macroporous TiO monoliths were synthesized by self-sustained combustion reactions of molded pellets made up of a mixture of TiCl as a precursor, urea as a fuel, ammonium nitrate as an oxidizer, and starch as a binder. The porous TiO monoliths were found to be a heterostructure of anatase and rutile phases, in addition to being doped with carbon. Variation in the amount of starch yielded porous monoliths of different anatase-rutile ratios (increasing rutile component from 0 to 40%) but comparable Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (∼30 m g).

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Porous Aggregates of CuS Nanoparticles for Sunlight Photocatalysis.

Solvated two-dimensional nanosheets of copper hydroxy dodecylsulfate in 1-butanol react with thiourea under microwave irradiation to yield surfactant-free porous aggregates of CuS nanoparticles. These aggregates exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity toward degradation of methylene blue, methyl orange, and 4-chlorophenol in natural sunlight. While the high surface area (14.