Photocatalytic Performance of Bicontinuous Concentric Lamellar Silica Decorated with Titania

The formation of silica particles with bicontinuous concentric lamellar (bcl) morphology decorated with titania involves two stages: the synthesis of bcl silica and the titania decoration process on the surface of bcl silica particles. This study synthesized bcl silica using a reflux method at atmospheric pressure, providing convenience for large-scale production. The titania decoration was carried out using a TiCl₄ precursor in 0 °C ethanol. FESEM/EDS and HRTEM analyses confirmed the successful decoration of titania onto the bcl silica surface. Raman spectroscopy measurements indicated that the decorated titania on the silica surface consisted predominantly of the anatase phase with a minor rutile component, as confirmed by the SAED patterns of the samples. UV-vis spectroscopy revealed a decreasing band gap energy trend with increasing titania content in the samples. The obtained materials were then tested for the photodegradation of rhodamine B under a UV-LED lamp (365 nm). The results showed that the as-synthesized bcl silica decorated with titania (AST 3) sample exhibited the best photocatalytic activity with a reaction rate constant (k) of 0.2305 min^-1 and achieved a photodegradation efficiency of 89% within 10 min.