Stimuli-Responsive Ti-Organic Gels and Aerogels Derived from Ti-Oxo Clusters: Hierarchical Porosity and Photocatalytic Activity

Herein, we report titanium-organic gels (TOGs) as new Ti-oxo-based materials that exhibit stimuli-responsive sol–gel transformations and hierarchical porosity upon the removal of solvent molecules. Heating a solution of Ti-oxo clusters and pyromellitic acid as a tetratopic ligand produces TOGs that readily become sols by applying physical stimuli such as shaking or vortexing under ambient conditions. Porous titanium-organic aerogels (TOAs) were obtained by the CO2 supercritical point drying (CPD) of the TOGs, and their porous structures were characterized by N2 adsorption and desorption isotherm measurements. These TOAs, based on the Ti-oxo clusters, possess hierarchical micro-, meso-, and macropores. Furthermore, accompanying the prominent photochromic phenomena, reduction of Ti4+ to Ti3+ was observed upon UV irradiation. The TOAs were successfully applied in the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of several dye molecules. This research introduces a versatile method for preparing stimuli-responsive and porous Ti-oxo-based photocatalysts.