Photocatalytic Characterization of TiO2 Nanorods and Nanotubes Synthesized by Sol Gel Template Method

Abstract

Titanium dioxide nanorods (TNR) and nanotubes (TNT) wereprepared by sol gel method using anodic aluminium oxide (AAO)membrane as template and calcined at 550°C. The structural of TiO2nanorods and nanotubes investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thesurface topography and the morphology of the samples werecharacterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM). The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 nanostructureswere evaluated by the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) solutionat different concentrations 10, 20 and 35 ppm under UV irradiation. Thecrystallinity and anatase phase of the TiO2 nanorods and nanotubes areconfirmed by XRD measurements. Average diameter size of TiO2nanorods and TiO2 nanotubes obtained from AFM histogram were 96.14,132.34 nm respectively. A high photocatalytic activity of TiOR2Rnanostructures were obtained at the three different concentrations underUV irradiation.