Titanate nanotubes coated with Ag nanoparticles: Effects of Annealing Temperature on Crystalline Structure, Morphology, and Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Abstract AgNPs were first introduced into the hydrothermally produced sodium titanate nanotubes using a photoreduction method. By gradually raising the temperature of Ag-doped TNTs samples between 100 and 350 ºC, the impact of the annealing temperature was investigated. XRD, HRTEM, FT-IR and UV-visible spectroscopy were used to characterize the nanotubes. Through the interchange of Ag+ with extra-framework Na+ in TNTs, the XRD demonstrated. The establishment of the Silver Titanate. On the other hand, a partial state transformation from nanotabular Na-TNTs to anatase nanotubes occurred with a rise in temperature. The interaction between Ag and TNT particles was assigned to the FT-IR band that appeared at 1384 cm− 1. The higher particle size was explained by HRTEM, the investigation demonstrated that the process of annealing resulted in the formation of larger clusters by aggregating small particles. UV-Vis and band gap measurements were used to assess how annealed samples affected the liquid phase of MB dye's capacity to photocatalyzed sunlight. Based on the breakdown of MB dye in an aqueous solution under solar conditions, the Ag/NaTNTs nanostructures with annealing temperatures ranging from 70 to 350◦C were assessed for their photocatalytic activities. The degradation rate increased with increasing annealing. The amorphous cluster's HOMO-LUMO gap and singlet-singlet excited state energies are quite like those of a crystalline Ag/TNTs, according to the calculations. Additionally, our calculations demonstrate that Ag/NaTNTs' computed energetic data values and low energy gap demonstrated strong activity against dye removal.