Facile Synthesis of Thermally Stable Mesoporous Titania Spheres with Excellent Photocatalytic Activity.

Thermally stable mesoporous TiO₂ spheres were successfully prepared via in situ hydrolysis of a titanium glycolate precursor. The mesoporous nature was retained even with calcination up to 500 °C under static air conditions. Mesoporous TiO₂ calcined at 500 °C showed the maximum photocatalytic activity. This is mainly attributed to the better utilization of charge carriers due to the low diffusional length along with high surface area and well-defined nanocrystallinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]