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Ongoing research activities are targeted to explore high photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 -based photocatalysts for the degradation of environmental contaminants under UV and visible light irradiation. In this work, we devise a facile, cost-effective technique to in situ synthesize hierarchical SiO 2 @C-doped TiO 2 (SCT) hollow spheres for the first time. This strategy mainly contains the preparation of monodisperse cationic polystyrene spheres (CPS), sequential deposition of inner SiO 2 , the preparation of the sandwich-like CPS@SiO 2 @CPS particles, and formation of outer TiO 2 . After the one-step removal of CPS templates by calcination at 450 °C, hierarchical SiO 2 @C-doped TiO 2 hollow spheres are in situ prepared. The morphology, hierarchical structure, and properties of SCT photocatalyst were characterized by TEM. SEM, STEM Mapping, BET, XRD, UV–vis spectroscopy, and XPS. Results strongly confirm the carbon doping in the outer TiO 2 lattice of SCT hollow spheres. When the as-synthesized SCT hollow spheres were employed as a photocatalyst for the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible-light and ultraviolet irradiation, the SCT photocatalyst exhibits a higher photocatalytic activity than commercial P25, effectively overcoming the limitations of poorer UV activity for many previous reported TiO 2 -based photocatalysts due to doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistent efforts have been paid to shift the ultraviolet of titania to visible-light-driven photocatalysis. In this work, we explored a facile, cost-effective method to in situ create C-doped hollow TiO 2 spheres. This method involved the preparation of monodisperse cationic polystyrene spheres (CPS), sequential deposition of TiO 2 precursor via template-directed self-assembly, and the removal of CPS template by calcination at 450 °C. The structure and properties of hollow TiO 2 catalysts were characterized by N 2 desorption–adsorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results confirmed the carbon doping in the as-prepared hollow TiO 2 lattice. When C-doped hollow TiO 2 spheres were used as photocatalysts for the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation, the as-synthesized hollow anatase exhibited a superior photocatalytic activity than the commercial P25 and many TiO 2 -based photocatalysts reported in literature, significantly broadening its potential for many practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]