Effect of Postdeposition Heat Treatment on the Crystallinity, Size, and Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 Nanoparticles Produced via Chemical Vapour Deposition

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were produced using chemical vapour deposition (CVD) at different deposition temperatures (300-700 degrees C). All the samples were heat treated at their respective deposition temperatures and at a fixed temperature of 400 degrees C. A scanning electron microscope (SEM), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the nanoparticles in terms of size and crystallinity. The photocatalytic activity was investigated via degradation of methylene blue under UV light. The effects of post deposition heat treatment are discussed in terms of crystallinity, nanoparticle size as well as photocatalytic activity. Crystallinity was found to have a much larger impact on photocatalytic activity compared to nanoparticle size. Samples having a higher degree of crystallinity were more photocatalytically active despite being relatively larger in size. Surprisingly, the photocatalytic activity of the samples reduced when heat treated at temperatures lower than the deposition temperature despite showing an improvement in crystallinity.