Visible light photocatalytic activity of rutile TiO sub(2) fiber clusters in the degradation of terephthalic acid

• Published in: Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Vol. 120; no. 3; pp. 967 - 976
• Main Authors: Yener, HBanu, Helvaci, Serife S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-09-2015
• Subjects: Clusters; Degradation; Illumination; Photocatalysis; Rutile; Tetrachlorides; Titanium; Titanium dioxide
• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-015-9263-4
• EISSN: 1432-0630
• ISSN: 0947-8396

Rutile TiO sub(2) nanoparticles, in different structural and morphological properties, were produced by the hydrolysis of titanium tetrachloride in a highly acidic reaction media at moderate temperatures without calcination. Their photocatalytic activities were investigated in the liquid-phase degradation of terephthalic acid under visible light illumination. The parameters, which are the concentration of the titanium tetrachloride solution (0.1-1 M) and reaction temperature (60-95 degree C), effective on the properties of the particles, and their photocatalytic performances, were investigated. The XRD patterns indicated a pure rutile crystal structure at moderate temperatures without need of calcination. The FEGSEM images showed the formation of flower-, pinecone-, and sphere-like clusters consisting of interconnected nanofibers. The N sub(2) adsorption-desorption isotherms pointed out the microporous structure of the clusters. Band gap energies were found to be varying between 3.02 and 3.08 eV due to the well-developed rutile crystallite structure. Systematic studies elucidated that the optimum reactant concentration and reaction temperature are 0.5 M TiCl sub(4) and 95 degree C, respectively. The rutile clusters synthesized at the optimum reaction conditions exhibited 99 % of the photocatalytic degradation of TPA under visible light illumination at shorter irradiation times compared with commercial P25 TiO sub(2).