Fast preparation of porous anatase material via CuO-mediated glass crystallization and acid-leaching

As an attempt to facilitate the mass production of porous anatase catalysts in industry, in this work, frits with molar ratios of MgO:TiO2:P2O5 = 20:32:24 and an extra addition of CuO (0, 8, 16, and 24 mol%) were first prepared by melt water-quenching method. The frits were further heat- and acid-treated, forming porous anatase consisting of nanosheets. The study showed that the CuO-containing samples had increasing crystallization of anatase and even the crystallization of CuO nano-rods. The easy dissolution of CuO nano-rods and the abundant grain boundaries in the heat-treated samples provided path for the acid-leaching and greatly accelerated the selective dissolution of the crystallized samples, reducing the acid-leaching time from 48 h for the CuO-free sample to 3 h for the sample containing 24 mol% CuO to form a similar porous structure. The preformed anatase acted as nucleus to induce the in situ growth of anatase nanosheets. As a result, CuO greatly fastened the formation of porous anatase, making the industrial production of porous anatase possible.