Precursor induced evolution in single anatase phase synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles for water treatment and dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized by employing the pure and special sol-gel approach with different precursors viz. micro-sized TiO2 powder, TiCl4 (Titanium tetrachloride) and TTIP (Titanium isopropoxide). The synthesized NPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV–Vis spectrographic analysis and Photoluminescence spectrographic analysis. The XRD results show single anatase phase for all the precursor-based samples. The characterizations results lead to originate that the TiCl4 precursor based TiO2 NPs are the finest NPs with admirable results. No phase transformation was observed in micro-sized TiO2 precursor-based NPs even after annealed at various temperatures (300 °C, 600 °C, and 900 °C). The TiCl4 precursor-based NPs were used for water treatment with UV radiation exposure and treated water samples were analysed with UV–visible spectrographic technique. Further, micro-sized and TiCl4 precursor based TiO2 NPs were also used in fabricating dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC).