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Published on: May 2, 2014
High Specific Surface Area TiO₂ Nanospheres for Hydrogen Production and Photocatalytic Activity
Dong Huang1, Haixia Liu1, Junwei Bian1
1Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering, School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, P. R. China.
Abstract:
TiO₂ nanospheres with high specific surface area and good crystallinity were prepared by a hydrothermal method using urea as the capping agent and isopropanol as the solvent. The capping agent effectively controlled the morphology of TiO₂ nanospheres and led to improved crystallinity. Using a solvent with a long carbon chain, such as isopropanol, also promoted the formation of TiO₂ nanospheres. TiO₂ nanospheres with different morphologies were prepared by adjusting the amount of urea. It was found that when TiO₂-0.6 was used as the photocatalyst, highest rates of degradation of both methylene blue and rhodamine B under ultraviolet-visible light were observed. Moreover TiO₂-0.6 also had the largest hydrogen production efficiency among the different TiO₂ samples tested. Thus, TiO₂ nanospheres have great development potential and application prospects in environmental management and new modes of energy utilization.
