Facile synthesis of porous TiO2 nanospheres and their photocatalytic properties

Abstract

Uniform and monodisperse porous TiO2 nanospheres were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Techniques of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) nitrogen adsorption–desorption, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the structure and morphology of the products. The BET surface area of the porous TiO2 nanospheres was calculated to be 26.1cm2g−1. In addition, the obtained porous TiO2 nanospheres were used as catalyst to photodegrade methylene blue, Rhodamine B, methyl orange, p-nitrophenol, and eosin B. Compared to commercial TiO2 powder, the as-prepared porous TiO2 nanospheres exhibited higher catalytic activities due to their large surface areas and porous nanostructures. The photocatalytic reaction rate constant of the porous TiO2 nanospheres in photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue and Rhodamine B under simulated solar light were calculated as 0.0545min−1 and 0.0579min−1, respectively. Moreover, the catalyst was demonstrated to have good stability and reusability.