Photocatalytic Properties of 1D TiO2 Nanostructures Prepared from Polyacrylamide Gel-TiO2 Nanopowders by Hydrothermal Synthesis

In the present study, the polyacrylamide gel (PAG) route was employed to synthesize a nanosized TiO2 powder (PAG-TiO2). The resultant PAG-TiO2 and commercial TiO2 (P25-TiO2) nanopowders were then used as the starting materials to hydrothermally synthesize one-dimensional (1D) TiO2 nano-structures (nanotubes and nanorods). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize the synthesized TiO2 nanostructures. The TiO2 nanopowders, calcined at 400 degrees C, were further examined for their photocatalytic performance in the decomposition of formic acid as an organic pollutant. The results demonstrate a superior quality of nanotubes synthesized from the PAG-TiO2 nanoparticles as well as enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to the nanotubes synthesized from commercial P25-TiO2. For the first time, the effect of PAG-TiO2 nanoparticles as starting material of the hydrothermal reaction on morphology and photocatalytic performance of the resulting nanostructures was investigated.