Cosolvent-Induced Gelation and the Hydrothermal Enhancement of the Crystallinity of Titania−Silica Mixed Oxides for the Photocatalytic Remediation of Organic Pollutants

The photocatalytic activity of hydrothermally synthesized TiO 2 −SiO 2 mixed oxides was examined in this study. Powder X-ray diffractometry, nitrogen adsorption, diffuse reflectance spectrometry, Raman, and UV−vis spectrometry demonstrated that the pore geometries and the nature of the crystal phase can be tailored by cosolvent-induced gelation (CIG) in the synthesis of mixed oxide materials. This body of work attempts to support the role of crystallinity enhanced by the hydrothermal synthesis (HTS) in establishing active sites pertinent to the advanced oxidation process (AOP) in TiO 2 −SiO 2 mixed oxide materials.