Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Aug 19;24(16):2996.
doi: 10.3390/molecules24162996.

Facile Formation of Anatase/Rutile TiO2 Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Jing He  1 , Yi-En Du  2 , Yang Bai  1 , Jing An  1 , Xuemei Cai  1 , Yongqiang Chen  3 , Pengfei Wang  4 , Xiaojing Yang  5 , Qi Feng  6
Affiliations

Facile Formation of Anatase/Rutile TiO2 Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Jing He et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Anatase/rutile mixed-phase TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized through a simple sol-gel route with further calcination using inexpensive titanium tetrachloride as a titanium source, which effectively reduces the production cost. The structural and optical properties of the prepared materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV-vis adsorption. The specific surface area was also analyzed by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The anatase/rutile mixed-phase TiO2 nanocomposites containing of rod-like, cuboid, and some irregularly shaped anatase nanoparticles (exposed {101} facets) with sizes ranging from tens to more than 100 nanometers, and rod-like rutile nanoparticles (exposed {110} facets) with sizes ranging from tens to more than 100 nanometers. The photocatalytic activities of the obtained anatase/rutile mixed-phase TiO2 nanoparticles were investigated and compared by evaluating the degradation of hazardous dye methylene blue (MB) under ultraviolet light illumination. Compared to the commercial Degussa P25-TiO2, the mixed-phase TiO2 nanocomposites show better photocatalytic activity, which can be attributed to the optimal anatase to rutile ratio and the specific exposed crystal surface on the surface. The anatase/rutile TiO2 nanocomposites obtained at pH 1.0 (pH1.0-TiO2) show the best photocatalytic activity, which can be attributed to the optimal heterojunction structure, the smaller average particle size, and the presence of a specific exposed crystal surface. The enhanced photocatalytic activity makes the prepared anatase/rutile TiO2 photocatalysts a potential candidate in the removal of the organic dyes from colored wastewater.

Keywords: anatase/rutile nanocomposites; photocatalytic activity; {101} facets; {110} facets.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
XRD patterns of (a) pH0.5-TiO2, (b) pH1.0-TiO2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
TEM (a,b) and HRTEM (c–f) images of the TiO2 sample obtained at pH0.5 under hydrothermal conditions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
TEM (a) and HRTEM (b–f) images of the TiO2 sample obtained at pH1.0 under hydrothermal conditions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Particle size distribution of (a) pH0.5-TiO2 and (b) pH1.0-TiO2.
Figure 5
Figure 5
UV-vis spectral changes of MB solutions as a functional of UV irradiation time in the presence of (a) pH0.5-TiO2, (b) pH1.0-TiO2, and (c) P25-TiO2, and (d) absence of any photocatalysts.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Time-dependent photodegradation profiles of MB over pH0.5-TiO2, pH1.0-TiO2, and P25-TiO2 photocatalysts, and a blank sample without any catalysts under UV irradiation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Liu X., Li Y., Deng D., Chen N., Xing X., Wang Y. A one-step nonaqueous sol–gel route to mixed-phase TiO2 with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B under visible light. CrystEngComm. 2016;18:1964–1975. doi: 10.1039/C5CE02322J. - DOI
    1. Konstantinou I.K., Albanis T.A. TiO2-assisted photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes in aqueous solution: Kinetic and mechanistic investigations: A review. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2004;49:1–14. doi: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2003.11.010. - DOI
    1. Fu W., Li G., Wang Y., Zeng S., Yan Z., Wang J., Xin S., Zhang L., Wu S., Zhang Z. Facile formation of mesoporous structured mixed-phase (anatase/rutile) TiO2 with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity. Chem. Commun. 2018;54:58–61. doi: 10.1039/C7CC05750D. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Han B., Chen Z., Louhi-Kultanen M. Effect of a pulsed electric field on the synthesis of TiO2 and its photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation. Powder Technol. 2017;307:137–144. doi: 10.1016/j.powtec.2016.11.053. - DOI
    1. Tang R., Yin L. Enhanced photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells based on Sr-doped TiO2/SrTiO3 nanorod array heterostructures. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2015;3:17417–17425. doi: 10.1039/C5TA03810C. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources