The fabrication of TiO2-supported clinoptilolite via F− contained hydrothermal etching and a resultant highly energetic {001} facet for the enhancement of its photocatalytic activity

TiO2-supported clinoptilolite (TiO2/CP) was synthesized in the presence of F− ions. Various characterizations demonstrated that the particle size of loaded TiO2 increased linearly with an increase in the temperature and concentration of F− ions. In particular, the additive F− ions were favored to produce the mutually independent co-exposed {001} and {101} facets of loaded TiO2, while TiO2/CPs synthesized in the absence of F− ions were dominated by the thermodynamically stable {101} facet. As photocatalysts for the removal of crystal violet or methyl orange dyes under UV-irradiation in aqueous solutions, TiO2/CPs (ACP6) synthesized in the presence of F− ions significantly improved the degradation efficiency, as compared to ACP3 obtained in the absence of F− ions. These results elucidated that the highly energetic {001} exposed facet, large particle size and fine dispersion of loaded TiO2 in TiO2/CP accounts for its best photocatalytic performance. The effected mechanism of operational parameters on the degradation performances is proposed.