A facile and green synthetic approach toward fabrication of Alcea- and Thyme-stabilized TiO2 nanoparticles for photocatalytic applications

Abstract

A facile and green synthetic approach was considered for the synthesis of stabilized titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles. Extracts of Alcea and Thyme plants were used to synthesis TiO2 nanoparticles for photocatalytic applications. Evaluation of the structural and phase formation via X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated the formation of the anatase phase of TiO2 along with the rutile phase. A desired single phase of anatase was obtained upon heating the as-synthesized samples at 500 °C for 3 h. Using the information provided by the XRD analyzer and the Debye Scherer relationship, the average crystallite size was found to be around 6 and 10 nm for the samples synthesized using Alcea and Thyme plants, respectively. To determine the elemental analysis and chemical structure, the energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyzer and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were employed. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) indicated batches of ultrafine agglomerated particles for both samples, which their sizes grew by the heating process. The UV–visible analysis of photocatalytic properties confirmed the priority of TiO2 nanoparticles prepared with Thyme extracts.