Synthesis, characterization and visible-light photocatalytic activity of TiO2–SiO2 composite modified with zinc porphyrins

Three types of silica gel supported titanium dioxide particles immobilizing Zn(II) carboxylphenyl porphyrins appending p-CH3, p-H and p-Cl phenyl substituents (designated as ZnMP–TiO2–SiO2, ZnPP–TiO2–SiO2 and ZnCP–TiO2–SiO2, respectively) have been synthesized and characterized using SEM, XRD, IR, AFS, DRS, UV–Vis, XPS and TG. The photodegradation of α-terpinene in aqueous suspension was used to determine the photocatalytic activity of TiO2–SiO2 samples which had been impregnated with Zn(II) porphyrins, as sensitizers. The experimental results confirmed that the photocatalytic activitys of these composites are much higher than those of the nonmodified TiO2–SiO2 under visible light irradiation and follow the order of ZnMP–TiO2–SiO2 > ZnPP–TiO2–SiO2 > ZnCP–TiO2–SiO2.