Hydrothermal Synthesis of Mesoporous TiO 2 Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dye

In this work, mesoporous TiO₂ nanoparticle photocatalyst has been prepared by hydrothermal method using titanium tetrachloride as precursor. The resulting photocatalysts have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption-desorption analyses, RAMAN spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The results showed that the synthesized OiT₂ was anatase phase and mesoporous with specific surface 133.45 m²/g. The decomposition of methylene blue dye under the influence of ultraviolet light was used to test the photocatalytic performance of the produced TiO₂ photocatalyst. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO₂ photocatalyst for the breakdown of methylene blue dye was significantly higher than that of the commercial TiO₂ P25 used as a reference. Moreover, the prepared photocatalyst was stable and reusable. The larger surface area of hydrothermally produced TiO₂ was the reason for this enhanced photocatalytic activity. As a result, it is expected that this approach of photocatalytically active semiconducting nanocatalysts will be used in industry to eliminate undesired organics from the environment.