Controlled Synthesis of Ordered Mesoporous C−TiO2 Nanocomposites with Crystalline Titania Frameworks from Organic−Inorganic−Amphiphilic Coassembly†

Highly ordered mesoporous carbon−titania nanocomposites with nanocrystal-glass frameworks have been synthesized via the organic−inorganic−amphiphilic coassembly followed by the in situ crystallization technology. A soluble resol polymer was used as a carbon precursor, prehydrolyzed TiCl4 as an inorganic precursor, and triblock copolymer F127 as a template. The carbon−titania nanocomposites with controllable texture properties and composition can be obtained in a wide range from 20 to 80 wt% TiO2 by adjusting the initial mass ratios. The C−TiO2 nanocomposites with “bricked-mortar”frameworks exhibit highly ordered 2D hexagonal mesostructure and high thermal stability up to 700 °C. The nanocomposites have high surface area (465 m2 g−1) and large pore size (∼4.1 nm). Additionally, the nanocomposites show good performance in degradation of Rhodamine B due to the photocatalytic activity of the titania nanocrystals and the strong adsorptive capacity of the glasslike carbon.