TiO2-doped resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) polymer and carbon gels with catalytic activity

Orsolya Czakkel (1, 2) , Erik Geissler (3) , Imre M. Szilagyi (4) , Krisztina Laszlo (5)

1 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
2 ILL - Institut Laue-Langevin
3 BIOP-LIPhy - BIOP - Fluctuations, Régulation et Evolution des Systèmes Vivants
4 Research group of Technical Analytical Chemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
5 Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science

Resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) polymer gels offer a relatively easy and versatile route for incorporating metals into a carbon aerogel matrix. The hybrid materials thus obtained are ideal candidates for applications involving enhanced adsorption or catalysis. This paper presents a detailed study of Ti-doped RF and carbon aerogels. The metal was introduced into the system at three different stages of the preparation process: during polymerization, by impregnation of the RF gel, or by impregnation of the carbon gel. The structure and morphology of the samples are compared using low temperature N2 adsorption, SEM, and small and wide angle X-Ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) methods. The TiO2-doped carbon aerogels display photocatalytic activity in breaking down aromatic compounds.

Mots clés: Carbon aerogel; Hybrid material; Adsorption; SAXS/WAXS; Titanium doping; Photocatalyst

Domaines: Chimie-Physique [physics.chem-ph]

Orsolya Czakkel, Erik Geissler, Imre M. Szilagyi, Krisztina Laszlo. TiO2-doped resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) polymer and carbon gels with catalytic activity. Nanomaterials and the Environment, 2013, 1, pp.23-30. ⟨10.2478/nanome-2013-0001⟩. ⟨hal-00817192⟩