Sol–gel preparation and characterization of nanosize TiO 2: Its photocatalytic performance

Abstract

Nanocrystalline TiO 2 photocatalysts of different anatase to rutile ratios with high surface area have been prepared by sol–gel technique using titanium(IV) isopropoxide as the precursor. The prepared materials were characterized by XRD, BET, UV–vis, FT-IR, SEM and TEM techniques. Reaction parameters, such as hydrolyzing agent, molar ratio, aging time and calcination temperature were varied during the synthesis in order to get uniform nanosize TiO 2 particles. XRD, SEM and TEM observations confirmed the nanocrystalline nature of TiO 2. The band gap value and surface area were higher, whereas particle size of nano TiO 2 was lower than the commercial TiO 2 (Degussa P-25). The photocatalytic activity of nano TiO 2 was evaluated in the phtocatalytic oxidation of bisphenol-A as a model reaction. Under the optimum conditions, nano TiO 2 showed higher photocatalytic activity for the degradation of bisphenol-A than commercial TiO 2 (Degussa P-25).