Hydrothermal synthesis of mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic dye

Abstract

In this work, mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticle photocatalyst has been prepared by hydrothermal method using titanium tetrachloride as precursor. The resulting photocatalysts have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption-desorption analyses, RAMAN spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The results showed that the synthesized 2 OiT was anatase phase and mesoporous with specific surface 133.45 m2/g. The decomposition of methylene blue dye under the influence of ultraviolet light was used to test the photocatalytic performance of the produced TiO2 photocatalyst. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 photocatalyst for the breakdown of methylene blue dye was significantly higher than that of the commercial TiO2 P25 used as a reference. Moreover, the prepared photocatalyst was stable and reusable. The larger surface area of hydrothermally produced TiO2 was the reason for this enhanced photocatalytic activity. As a result, it is expected that this approach of photocatalytically active semiconducting nanocatalysts will be used in industry to eliminate undesired organics from the environment.