CTAB-assisted synthesis of mesoporous F–N-codoped TiO2 powders with high visible-light-driven catalytic activity and adsorption capacity

This article describes the preparation of mesoporous rod-like F–N-codoped TiO2 powder photocatalysts with anatase phase via a sol–gel route at the temperature of 373 K, using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV–vis DRS). The results showed that the photocatalysts possessed a homogeneous pore diameter and a high surface area of 106.3–160.7 m3 g−1. The increasing CTAB reactive concentration extended the visible-light absorption up to 600 nm. The F–N-codoped TiO2 powders exhibited significant higher adsorption capacity for methyl orange (MO) than that of Degussa P25 and showed more than 6 times higher visible-light-induced catalytic degradation for MO than that of P25.