Simple Synthesis Pathway of Uniform Nanoparticle TiO2 from Hydrolysis of TiCl4 and Kinetic Study of Photocatalytic Decomposition of Azo Compounds

Abstract

Contamination of clean water has been recognized as a serious environmental problem. Meanwhile, photocatalyst technology is seen as a promising alternative method to overcome environmental problems. However, several obstacles are currently faced. Hydrolysis of TiCl4 to form TiO2 usually produces ununiform phase of TiO2 which makes the kinetic study of TiO2 for photocatalyst reaction difficult to determine. A new synthesis pathway to produce a uniform phase with a simple method has not been established yet. This study has found a controllable and simple route to synthesize a single anatase phase of TiO2. For this experiment, TiCl4 is used as a precursor to TiO2 and calcined at 600°C, then tested for its photocatalytic ability with a solution of organic dyes. According to the X-ray diffraction and Scanning electron microscope characterizations, TiO2 anatase was successfully synthesized in a single phase without impurities. Furthermore, the synthesized TiO2 was able to degrade organic dyes with a maximum degradation of 60%, 93%, 97% and 87% for methyl orange, methyl violet, bromothymol blue as well as congo red respectively and is therefore an excellent catalyst to reduce water pollutants. Finally, the photocatalytic kinetics calculated using the Langmuir–Hinshelwood first order model showed that the efficiency for the degradation of bromothymol blue showed significant results, 212% more efficient activity compared to TiO2 P25.