Abstract

Doaa M. EL-Mekkawi¹, Ammar A. Labib², Hanan A. Mousa², Hoda R. Galal² and Walied A. A. Mohamed²

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/330105

The present study addresses a tailored preparation method of different structures of TiO₂ nanoparticles over narrow ranges of varying parameters. In this work, titanium-n-butoxide was used to prepare TiO₂ nanoparticles via sol gel method. The influence of the experimental preparation conditions: pH, drying and calcination temperatures were studied at ranges 5-9, 70-110^oC, and 450-650^oC, respectively. Slight changes through these mentioned ranges lead to drastically change in the phase transformation, degrees of crystallinity and crystal systems of the prepared TiO₂. Pure anatase and rutile forms as well as different ratios of mixed phases were obtained. X-ray diffraction and transmitting electron microscope TEM techniques were used for the characterization of the prepared samples. The photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ samples were evaluated according to their abilities toward the generation of the highly active hydroxyl radicals. Results indicate that the photocatalytic activities of TiO₂ samples are dependent on their preparation experimental conditions. The maximal photocatalytic activities were noticed at high pH and drying temperature values.

TiO2 preparation; sol gel; TiO2 characterization; photocatalytic activities; fluorescent probe method

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