Preparation of Mesoporous ZnO/Zn(OH)2 Spheres and Their Replication to High Surface TiO2 Materials

Crystalline mesoporous ZnO/Zn(OH) 2 nanocomposite spheres were prepared by a simple method and subsequently used as a hard template for the preparation of amorphous mesoporous TiO 2 , which showed a very large surface area, 525 m 2 g -1 . The hydrolytically unstable nature of the ZnO/Zn(OH) 2 spheres made the etching process simple and efficient. Zn x Ti y O x+2y material was also obtained from different etching processes. The large-surface amorphous TiO 2 was crystallized above 350 °C, and the surface area decreased to 202 m 2 g -1 The crystalline mesoporous TiO 2 exhibited a good photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of methyl orange under UV irradiation.