Synthesis of Nanostructured TiO₂ Photocatalyst with Ultrasonication at Low Temperature

Abstract

A thin film TiO 2 in hierarchical nano-structure with high photocatalytic activities was synthesized in simple steps with ultrasonication. The crystal structure and morphology of the photocatalyst were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). In the present work, nanostructured TiO 2 was directly formed onto a Ti substrate via a solution approach. This nanostructured TiO 2 photocatalyst can be reused and will not generate secondary contamination to treated water. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized TiO 2 photocatalyst was evaluated by the degradation of phenol under UVC irradiation in water and was compared with the general sol-gel derived TiO 2 films as well as a commercial DP-25 TiO 2 coating. It was found that the synthesized nanostructured TiO2has significantly high and stable photocatalytic activity.