Synthesis of co-existing phases Sn-TiO2 aerogel by ultrasonic-assisted sol-gel method without calcination

Generally, TiO2 aerogel prepared by the sol-gel technique is amorphous and it exhibits special catalytic property only in the crystalline state after calcination at high temperature, but the calcination will significantly decrease aerogel’s specific surface area. Thus the aim of this study is to prepare co-existing crystalline phase Sn-TiO2 aerogel without annealing. It was synthesized by ultrasonic-assisted sol-gel method using stannous chloride as dopant. Results indicated that the uncalcined Sn-TiO2 aerogel composed by amorphous and anatase phase (denoted as co-existing phases) has a specific surface area of 172.4 m2/g. Optimal degradation efficiency of 96% for tetracycline hydrochloride was achieved within 30 min of UV irradiation using the co-existing phases Sn-TiO2 aerogel, due to the synergistic effect of adsorption and photocatalytic activity.