Preparation of mesoporous TiO2 with enhanced photocatalytic activity towards tannery wastewater degradation

Ordered mesoporous TiO2 materials are successfully synthesized via a sol-gel route using butyl titanate as a precursor and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate surfactants as soft templates. The as-prepared TiO2 samples possess a relatively high surface area of 40.03 m(2)/g and the center of pore diameter distribution of 13.04 nm. They exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity towards degradation of organic pollutants in tannery wastewater under UV-light and natural sunlight irradiation. The effect of the catalyst dosage, the pH value of the solution and the concentration of H2O2 are discussed in detail. This work would pave an avenue for purifying various industrial wastewaters through an advanced photocatalytic oxidation process.