Shape-Tailored TiO2 Photocatalysts Obtained in the Presence of Different Types of Carbon Materials

Abstract

Titania and carbon materials are intensively studied in composite materials including photocatalytic applications. Both positive and negative effects were described in the literature, including charge separation, adsorption enhancement and short-circuiting of the photoelectrons as well. In the present study a more sparsely investigated properties of carbon materials will be highlighted, namely their role as crystallization promoters for titania, during hydrothermal synthesis of the composites. Therefore, carbon nanotubes, carbon coils, activated carbon, graphite and carbon aerogel was used to identify the importance of carbon during the time dependent crystallization of titanium dioxide. The crystal phase composition, morphology, optical properties and photocatalytic activity was followed, and it was found that the anatase and rutile crystallization depended on the used carbon material. The morphology of the particles varied from single anatase sheet-like crystals to hierarchical microball-like structures, while in some cases no specific morphology was observed. Furthermore, it was found that despite the low carbon content (2 wt.%) and microcrystalline structure of TiO2 the composites were proven to be efficient in the degradation of Rhodamine B under UV light irradiation.