Low temperature synthesis of visible light responsive rutile TiO₂ nanorods from TiC precursor

Abstract

A nano-structured TiO₂ with rutile phase was synthesized by using the hydrothermal method from a titanium carbide (TiC) nano-powder precursor at low temperature to produce a stable visible light responsive photocatalyst. The rutile phase was formed at temperature as low as 100°C, and both synthesis time and temperature affected its formation. The rutile particles showed a faceted nano-rod structure, and were tested for absorption and photo-degradation ability under visible light. Particles with shorter synthesis times showed higher visible light absorption and corresponding photo-degradation ability, while those synthesized at lower temperatures had lower, but still evident, degradation ability under visible light.

Keywords

photocatalysis / rutile / TiO₂ / hydrothermal / visible / titanium carbide

References

[1] Kudo A, Miseki Y. Heterogeneous photocatalyst materials for water splitting. Chemical Society Reviews, 2008, 38(1): 253-278

[2] Sunada K, Watanabe T, Hashimoto K. Studies on photokilling of bacteria on TiO₂ thin film. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A Chemistry, 2003, 156(1-3): 227-233

[3] Kim B, Kim D, Cho D, Cho S. Bactericidal effect of TiO₂ photocatalyst on selected food-borne pathogenic bacteria. Chemosphere, 2003, 52(1): 277-281

[4] Seo J W, Chung H W, Kim M Y, Lee J G, Choi I H, Cheon J W. Development of water-soluble single-crystalline TiO₂ nanoparticles for photocatalytic cancer-cell treatment. Small, 2007, 3(5): 850-853

[5] Chen X B, Mao S S. Titanium dioxide nanomaterials: synthesis, properties, modifications, and applications. Chemical Reviews, 2007, 107(7): 2891-2959

[6] Zhao J C, Chen C C, Ma W H. Photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants under visible light irradiation. Topics in Catalysis, 2005, 35(3-4): 269-278

[7] Langford J I, Wilson A J C. Scherrer after sixty years: a survey and some new results in the determination of crystallite size. Journal of Applied Crystallography, 1978, 11(2): 102-113

[8] Czanderna A W, Rao C N R, Honig J M. The anatase-rutile transition. Part 1. Kinetics of the transformation of pure anatase. Transactions of the Faraday Society, 1958, 54: 1069-1073

[9] Mattioli G, Filippone F, Alippi P, Amore Bonapasta A. Ab initio study of the electronic states induced by oxygen vacancies in rutile and anatase TiO₂. Physical Review B: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, 2008, 78(24): 241201

[10] Zuo F, Wang L, Wu T, Zhang Z Y, Borchardt D, Feng P Y. Self-doped Ti³⁺ enhanced photocatalyst for hydrogen production under visible light. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2010, 132(34): 11856-11857

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg