Silica Supported Mesoporous Titania: A Green Catalyst for Removing Environmental Pollutants and Generating Green Energy

Abstract. Titania (TiO2) is one of the most unique catalysts, crucially important in photo-green chemistry. The mesoporous TiO2 has large surface area, uniform pore size and open frameworks for the transfer of mass and charges. TiO2 has photocatalytic activity which can degrade both organic and inorganic compounds. The band gap energy of TiO2 can be modified by doping various metal oxides to make it tunable for application in solar cells. Various catalytic metals such as Au, Pt and Pd can be synthesized on TiO2 surface to enlarge its application in various catalytic molecular transformations. Thus TiO2 has promising application in the production of the renewable energy, degradation of environmentally hazardous components, generation of solar cells and sensors. A large number of efforts have been made to synthesize mesoporous TiO2 materials with high surface area and uniform pore size. However, they were not cost effective for applications in environment and green energy generation. The photocatalytic actions of TiO2 can further kill or transform harmful microorganisms into harmless or less harmful ones. This paper reviewed synthesis methodology of silica supported mesoporous TiO2 and their applications in environmental photocatalysis and solar cells.