Abstract
For the first time, a facile method is introduced to obtain ultrathin, mesoporous TiO2 nanosheets by the alkali precipitation of aqueous TiCl3 in the presence of NH 4 OH, and in-situ templating with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The synthesized titania nanosheets have been characterized by N-2 adsorption-desorption measurements, x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The titania obtained were hexagonal-like, detached, non-agglomerated, polydispersed, sub-20 nm nanodiscs. Their absorption gap edges, surface area and pore volumes can easily be tailored by simply tuning the amount of the template. Accordingly, their aggregation as microspheres can successfully be controlled by the templating step. The remarkable photoactivity of these nanoscopic materials has been confirmed by the degradation of aqueous methyl orange.