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Electrochemical synthesis of self-assembled TiO2 NT and surface decoration for photocatalytic application

Materials based on nanostructured TiO2 are among the most prominent materials of the last 40 years, and have been studied for the purpose of use in photocatalysis. One of the main limitations for the application of TiO2 in materials photocatalysis is a wide energy bandgap, Eg = 3.2 eV, so its possible application being limited to UV radiation. In order to increase the efficiency of the TiO2 nanostructure as a photocatalyst and expand the spectral range in which the photocatalyst is activated, different approaches to modifications of the synthesized nanoparticles of TiO2 were applied. In this study, the synthesis of self- assembled TiO2 NT was obtained by electrochemical oxidation in organic electrolyte, ethylene glycol with 0.3% NH4F and 12% H2O, at 60 V voltage for 3 hours. Surface modification with silver was done by photo- reduction, while decoration with FeOOH/Fe2O3 was achieved by hydrothermal synthesis. SEM, EDS and XRD were applied for characterization, while benzoltriazole was used as model pollutant. All the photocatalysts in photocatalytic test behaved on the kinetics of the first order. The best photocatalytic performance, using simulated sun light, was achieved by Ag decorated self- assambled TiO2 NT, having better performances than commercial TiO2 P25. The photocatalytic properties of the synthesized photocatalysts will be discussed considering the morphology, crystal structure and the atomic percentage of the decoration.

self-assembled TiO2 NT ; Ag decoration ; photocatalysis

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