A simple method to prepare titania nanomaterials of core-shell structure, hollow nanospheres and mesoporous nanoparticles

A simple method to prepare titania nanomaterials of core-shell structure, hollow nanospheres and mesoporous nanoparticles has been developed. The core-shell nanostructures with NH4Cl as core and TiO₂·xH₂O-NH₄Cl as shell were prepared in nonaqueous system by the deposition on the surface of the aggregated NH₄Cl crystals, which could be transformed into mesoporous anatase nanoparticles or hollow nanospheres by calcination at 500°C or extraction with methanol, respectively. The hierarchical mesoporous nanostructures benefited the photocatalytic activities of the resultant titania nanomaterials, demonstrated by the UV light photodegradation of Methyl Orange.