Interfacial chemical bonding effect on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2-SiO2 nanocoupling systems

TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited on the surfaces of SiO(2) microspheres with a mesoporous structure prepared by a hydrolysis-controlled sol-gel technique. The TiO(2) NPs were firmly combined on the surfaces of SiO(2) microspheres through the interfacial Si-O-Ti bonds. The coupling causes the bandgap widening up to 3.37 eV, enhancing the photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of acetaldehyde under illumination of UV-light (330 < λ < 400 nm). Density functional theory calculations for model clusters suggested that the observed results are derived from the lowering in the valence band edge energy with the interfacial bond formation.