Synthesis and Applications of Photocatalytically Active Titania Nanoparticles - Poster Presentation

Abstract

Titania nanoparticles are widely used in photocatalysis, solar cells,pseudocapacitors and other applications. This report is on a scalable method of synthesis of pure and nitrogen-doped anatase nanopowders with the particle size from several nanometers to more than 100 nm, which can be controlled by the process parameters. Preparation of nanosized titanium dioxide with the anatase structure was achieved by precipitation from solutions with subsequent calcinations. The reaction of the isopropanol solution of titanium tetrachloride with ammonia was used in the synthesis process. The effects of the process parameters (pH, temperature and time of calcinations) on the phase composition, particle size, color and morphology have been studied using XRD, Raman spectroscopy and TEM. Nitrogen doping leads to yellow powders. It is important to stress that titanium chloride produced as a chemical industry waste was used in this process. Nanosized TiO2 prepared by this method shows a strong photocatalytic activity. The prepared titania solutions were found to very active to degrade solutions of Methylene blue, Methyl Red and colored household chemicals under UVA light.