Mesoporous TiO₂ from poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide)-b-polystyrene block copolymers for long-term acetaldehyde photodegradation

Although already some mesoporous (2–50 nm) sol–gel TiO₂ synthesis strategies exist, no pore size control beyond the 12 nm range is possible without using specialized organic structure-directing agents synthetized via controlled anionic/radical polymerizations. Here, we present the use of reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization as a straightforward and industrial applicable alternative to the existing controlled polymerization methods for structure-directing agent synthesis. Poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide)-block-polystyrene (PDMA-b-PS) block copolymer, synthesized via RAFT, was chosen as structure-directing agent for the formation of the mesoporous TiO₂. Crack-free thin layers TiO₂ with tunable pores from 8 to 45 nm could be acquired. For the first time, in a detailed and systematic approach, the influence of the block size and dispersity of the block copolymer is experimentally screened for their influence on the final meso-TiO₂ layers. As expected, the mesoporous TiO₂ pore sizes showed a clear correlation to the polystyrene block size and the dispersity of the PDMA-b-PS block copolymer. Surprisingly, the dispersity of the polymer was shown not to be affecting the standard deviation of the pores. As a consequence, RAFT could be seen as a viable alternative to the aforementioned controlled polymerization reactions for the synthesis of structure-directing agents enabling the formation of mesoporous pore size-controlled TiO₂. To examine the photocatalytic activity of the mesoporous TiO₂ thin layers, the degradation of acetaldehyde, a known indoor pollutant, was studied. Even after 3 years of aging, the TiO₂ thin layer retained most of its activity.