Fabrication of nanoporous TiO2 hollow capsules using core-shell silica nanoparticle templates

Abstract

We report on the fabrication of the nanoporous TiO 2 hollow capsules using core-shell silica nanoparticle templates. The thickness of the capsules can be simply controlled by varying the amount of the TiO 2 precursor. The resulting nanoporous capsules exhibited the high specific surface area and the large pore volume of 103~180 m2/g and 0.40-0.86 cm3/g, respectively. Photocatalytic activity of the TiO 2 hollow capsules was also investigated and compared to that of the commercial TiO 2 nanoparticles.