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Porous hollow TiO2 microparticles for photocatalysis: exploiting novel ABC triblock terpolymer templates synthesised in supercritical CO2

Larder, Ryan R; Bennett, Thomas M; Blankenship, Leo S; Alves Fernandes, Jesum; Husband, Bethany K; Atkinson, Rachel L; Derry, Matthew J; Thomas William Toolan, Daniel; Centurion, Higor A.; Topham, Paul D.; Vitalino Goncalves, Renato; Taresco, Vincenzo; Howdle, Steven M

Porous hollow TiO2 microparticles for photocatalysis: exploiting novel ABC triblock terpolymer templates synthesised in supercritical CO2 Thumbnail


Authors

Ryan R Larder

Thomas M Bennett

Leo S Blankenship

Bethany K Husband

Rachel L Atkinson

Matthew J Derry

Daniel Thomas William Toolan

Higor A. Centurion

Paul D. Topham

Renato Vitalino Goncalves



Abstract

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) mediated dispersion polymerisation in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is an efficient and green method for synthesising block copolymer microparticles with internal nanostructures. Here we report for the first time the synthesis of phase separated poly(methyl methacrylate-block-styrene-block-4-vinylpyridine) (PMMA-b-PS-b-P4VP) triblock terpolymer microparticles using a simple two-pot sequential synthesis procedure in scCO2, with high monomer conversions and no purification steps. The microparticles, produced directly and without further processing, show a complex internal nanostructure, appearing as a “lamellar with spheres” [L+S(II)] type morphology. The P4VP block is then exploited as a structure-directing agent for the fabrication of TiO2 microparticles. Through a simple and scalable sol-gel and calcination process we produce hollow TiO2 microparticles with a mesoporous outer shell. When directly compared to porous TiO2 particles fabricated using an equivalent PMMA-b-P4VP diblock copolymer, increased surface area and enhanced photocatalytic efficiencies are observed.

Citation

Larder, R. R., Bennett, T. M., Blankenship, L. S., Alves Fernandes, J., Husband, B. K., Atkinson, R. L., …Howdle, S. M. (2021). Porous hollow TiO2 microparticles for photocatalysis: exploiting novel ABC triblock terpolymer templates synthesised in supercritical CO2. Polymer Chemistry, 12(19), 2904-2913. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1py00334h

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 21, 2021
Online Publication Date Apr 22, 2021
Publication Date May 21, 2021
Deposit Date Apr 22, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Polymer Chemistry
Print ISSN 1759-9954
Electronic ISSN 1759-9962
Publisher Royal Society of Chemistry
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 12
Issue 19
Pages 2904-2913
DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/d1py00334h
Keywords Organic Chemistry; Biochemistry; Bioengineering; Polymers and Plastics
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5487786
Publisher URL https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2021/PY/D1PY00334H#!divAbstract

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