Low temperature synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of synthesis conditions on properties of TiO2 nanoparticles to be used for photocatalysis and also producing TiO2 using a low temperature method. Design/methodology/approach - TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesised via a sol-gel method at low temperature and the effect of parameters such as: synthesis temperature, HNO3 concentration, calcination temperature and synthesis time on properties of TiO2 were studied. The effects of the physico-chemical properties of TiO2, its concentration and light intensity on photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles were investigated also. Findings - The results showed that TiO2 with Anatase phase were formed at 80-100 degrees C by using proper HNO3 concentration, synthesis time and calcinations temperature. Calcinations programme and temperature and also the synthesis time affect the formation of TiO2 crystalline phase (i.e. Rutile and Brookite), their surface area and crystallite size. To evaluate the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles, fluorescein was used as a model molecule. Results showed that degradation of fluorescein could be described by pseudo-first order kinetics. The effect of TiO2 concentration and light intensity on photocatalytic activity showed that increasing concentration of TiO2 and the light intensity would increase the degradation of fluorescein. Originality/value - The method used in this work to prepare TiO2 nanoparticles is an economic method for low temperature synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles with high photocatalytic activity, which could find numerous applications in coating technology.