Nanosized titania particles for application in photocatalysis

Abstract

In this work we present simple synthetic route with low energy requirements, designed to produce high surface area titania (TiO2) photocatalyst. Method involves usage of titanium(IV)- isopropoxide and chitosan, a polysaccharide rarely utilized in ceramics-related research. Thorough characterization of the obtained powders was conducted using several instrumental techniques (FE-SEM, XRD, BET and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy) which revealed the presence of sub-10 nm particles, and confirmed pure or predominant presence of anatase crystallographic phase, higher surface area than in commercial referent samples, and slightly enhanced absorption in the visible portion of the spectrum. The photocatalytic degradation of textile azo dyes under UV-enriched light source was investigated (230 mW cm-2, 20 °C), showing very high adsorption capability of the powders, and superior photocatalytic behaviour compared to referent samples.