Improved adsorption and catalysis performance of biomorphic porous TiO2 with wood template size scaling

Biomorphic TiO 2 photocatalysts with hierarchical porous structures by templating with different size scales of wood processing residues (lignocellulose, wood flour, and solid wood as biological templates) through a simple sol-gel method is proposed for photocatalytic degradation applications. Compared with template-free TiO 2 , the biomorphic TiO 2 had a good adsorption capacity and photocatalytic performance with methylene blue (MB) and phenol. The lignocellulose-templated TiO 2 reached adsorption equilibrium within 60 min because of the hierarchical structure of the complex interlaced wood. It exhibited 98.9% and 84.3% degradation of MB and phenol within 60 min under visible light conditions. The multiscale structure of the wood templates enhanced light absorption and mass transfer efficiency due to the presence of additional surface hydroxyl groups and a reduced bandgap. This research proposes a convenient synthesis method to obtain biomorphic TiO 2 using wood residues, and construct the physical- chemical interaction between wood and TiO 2 to enhance visible light response and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers.