Abstract
Anatase titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) were synthesized by sol-gel method using rice straw as a soft biotemplate. Rice straw, as a lignocellulosic waste material, is a biomass feedstock which is globally produced in high rate and could be utilized in an innovative approach to manufacture a value-added product. Rice straw as a reliable biotemplate has been used in the sol-gel method to synthesize ultrasmall sizes of TiO2-NPs with high potential application in photocatalysis. The physicochemical properties of titanium dioxide nanoparticles were investigated by a number of techniques such as X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), ultraviolet visible spectra (UV-Vis), and surface area and pore size analysis. All results consensually confirmed that particle sizes of synthesized titanium dioxide were template-dependent, representing decrease in the nanoparticles sizes with increase of biotemplate concentration. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles as small as 13.0 ± 3.3 nm were obtained under our experimental conditions. Additionally, surface area and porosity of synthesized TiO2-NPs have been enhanced by increasing rice straw amount which results in surface modification of nanoparticles and potential application in photocatalysis.
Highlights
Titanium dioxide is an important n-type wide band-gap semiconductor with light absorbing, charge transport, and surface adsorption properties [1]
Exponential growth in research focuses on synthesis, properties, and applications of TiO2 nanostructures that have been accomplished in recent years
In this study, we investigate the effects of rice straw powder on properties of synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles via soft, inexpensive, and green template
Summary
Titanium dioxide is an important n-type wide band-gap semiconductor with light absorbing, charge transport, and surface adsorption properties [1]. The size distribution of TiO2 nanorods was largely controlled by the size distribution of anodic alumina membrane (AAM) [19,20,21] Exploiting surfactants such as ammonium carboxylate perfluoropolyether and poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate-block-1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl methacrylate) led to increasing the crystal size [22]. Biological materials such as biomolecular structures, viruses, proteins, and DNA have attracted a lot of attention recently. Applying rice straw as a soft biotemplate appears to be a promising way to synthesize titanium dioxide nanoparticles. In this study, we investigate the effects of rice straw powder on properties of synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles via soft, inexpensive, and green template
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