Photocatalytic Performance of Bicontinuous Concentric Lamellar Silica Decorated with Titania

The formation of silica particles with bicontinuous concentric lamellar (<i>bcl</i>) morphology decorated with titania involves two stages: the synthesis of <i>bcl</i> silica and the titania decoration process on the surface of <i>bcl</i> silica particles. This study synthesized <i>bcl</i> silica using a reflux method at atmospheric pressure, providing convenience for large-scale production. The titania decoration was carried out using a TiCl₄ precursor in 0 °C ethanol. FESEM/EDS and HRTEM analyses confirmed the successful decoration of titania onto the <i>bcl</i> silica surface. Raman spectroscopy measurements indicated that the decorated titania on the silica surface consisted predominantly of the anatase phase with a minor rutile component, as confirmed by the SAED patterns of the samples. UV-vis spectroscopy revealed a decreasing band gap energy trend with increasing titania content in the samples. The obtained materials were then tested for the photodegradation of rhodamine B under a UV-LED lamp (365 nm). The results showed that the as-synthesized <i>bcl</i> silica decorated with titania (AST 3) sample exhibited the best photocatalytic activity with a reaction rate constant (<i>k</i>) of 0.2305 min^-1 and achieved a photodegradation efficiency of 89% within 10 min.