Novel porous TiO2 glass-ceramics with highly photocatalytic ability

Abstract A porous TiO 2 glass-ceramics with high photo-oxidative activity was successfully obtained from the SiO 2 –Al 2 O 3 –B 2 O 3 –CaO–TiO 2 glass system. Rutile-type TiO 2 was observed in the crystallization temperature range of 973–1173 K. The band gap of the glass-ceramics coincided approximately with that of rutile-type TiO 2 . The photocatalytic activity of this glass-ceramics was about four times larger than that of a TiO 2 -coated photocatalyst fabricated by the sol–gel process. Furthermore, as this porous TiO 2 glass-ceramics contained TiO 2 in composition form, it could prevent peeling of the TiO 2 from the substrate. As well, this glass-ceramics can be easily shaped into sheets, tubes, rods, etc.