Enhanced photocatalytic performance of brookite TiO₂ macroporous particles prepared by spray drying with colloidal templating

The synthesis and photocatalytic performance of brookite TiO₂ macroporous particles was investigated using spray drying and colloidal templating. Macroporous brookite titania particles with sub-micrometer diameters were prepared by spry drying a suspension of brookite nanoparticles and polystyrene latex (PSL) particle, which were used for colloidal templating. The photocatalytic performance of porous particles were optimized by changing particle diameter and pore diameter with concentration of titania and PSL in the spray solution. The photocatalytic performance of prepared particles were evaluated by measuring the photodegradation of rhodamine B catalyzed by prepared particles under UV illumination. It was observed that porous titania particles prepared using the spray-drying method exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance over nonporous titania microparticles. Reslut shows that macroporous particles are more phocatalytically active due to increased surface area.