Synthesis and Characterization of Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes for Photocatalytic Degradation of Aqueous Nitrobenzene in the Presence of Sunlight

Abstract

TiO2 derived nanotubes were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 (anatase) powder in 10 M NaOH aqueous solution. The crystalline structure, band gap, and morphology of the TiO2 nanotubes were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron microscopy (TEM) and N2 adsorption (BET) at 77 K, respectively. It was observed that the surface area of the nanotubes was increased twelve times compared with TiO2 (anatase) powder. The results demonstrated that the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanotubes was higher than that of TiO2 (anatase) powder. The photocatalytic activity of the nanotubes was evaluated in presence of sunlight by degradation of aqueous nitrobenzene. Complete degradation of nitrobenzene was obtained in 4 hours using TiO2 nanotubes whereas 85% degradation was observed in case of TiO2 (anatase).