Physical Properties Study of TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanoparticle Synthesis via Hydrothermal Method Using TiO<sub>2</sub> Microparticles as Precursor

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were successfully synthesised by hydrothermal method using TiO2microparticle powder (Merck) as precursor. TiO2microparticles powder (~160 nm) was mixed with 10 M NaOH and treated hydrothermally at 150 °C and 2 MPa pressure in autoclave for 24 hours. After hydrothermal reaction was completed, the sample was washed, dried and heated at 500 °C for 2 hours to produce TiO2nanoparticles. The synthesised nanoparticles were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and raman spectroscopy. UV-Vis DRS was used to determine the band gap energy. Field emissions and transmissions electron microscopy images revealed that nanoparticles obtained was about 14 nm. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that TiO2nanoparticles were anatase phase (tetragonal). The band gap energy of TiO2nanoparticles was determined to be 3.32 eV.