Excess electrons in reduced rutile and anatase TiO2

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Wen-Jin; Wen, Bo; Zhou, Chuanyao; Selloni, Annabella; Liu, Li-Min

2018-05-01

As a prototypical photocatalyst, TiO2 is a material of scientific and technological interest. In photocatalysis and other applications, TiO2 is often reduced, behaving as an n-type semiconductor with unique physico-chemical properties. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the understanding of the fundamental properties and applications of excess electrons in reduced, undoped TiO2. We discuss the characteristics of excess electrons in the bulk and at the surface of rutile and anatase TiO2 focusing on their localization, spatial distribution, energy levels, and dynamical properties. We examine specific features of the electronic states for photoexcited TiO2, for intrinsic oxygen vacancy and Ti interstitial defects, and for surface hydroxyls. We discuss similarities and differences in the behaviors of excess electrons in the rutile and anatase phases. Finally, we consider the effect of excess electrons on the reactivity, focusing on the interaction between excess electrons and adsorbates.

Synthesis of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles with beta-cyclodextrin as a supramolecular shell.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Landong; Sun, Xiaohong; Yang, Yali; Guan, Naijia; Zhang, Fuxiang

2006-11-20

We report a novel, green hydrothermal-synthesis route to well-dispersed anatase TiO2 nanoparticles with particle sizes of 9-16 nm in the presence of beta-CD (beta-cyclodextrin). During the synthesis process, the CD-containing synthesis mixture assembled in both longitudinal and latitudinal directions. Driven by the interaction between molecules, the beta-CDs assembled in the longitudinal direction to form long-chain compounds, whereas in the latitudinal direction, they tended to form regular aggregates through coordination with the Ti species from the hydrolysis of tetrabutyl titanate. In view of the effect of the coordination and the steric hindrance of beta-CDs as a supramolecular shell, homogeneous nuclei and slow growth of TiO2 crystals during the synthesis process was observed, which was responsible for the formation of uniform TiO2 nanoparticles. The low beta-CD dosage and the high product yield (>90%) demonstrated well the potential of this synthesis route in the large-scale industrial production of anatase nanoparticles.

Photocatalytic performance of pure anatase nanocrystallite TiO2 synthesized under low temperature hydrothermal conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayilkan, Funda; Erdemoglu, Sema; Asiltuerk, Meltem; Akarsu, Murat; Sener, Sadiye; Sayilkan, Hikmet; Erdemoglu, Murat; Arpac, Ertugrul

2006-01-01

Photocatalytic performance of a hydrothermally synthesized pure anatase TiO 2 with 8 nm average crystallite size for decomposition of Reactive Red 141 was examined by investigating the effects of UV-light irradiation time, irradiation power, amount of TiO 2 and initial dye concentration. Change in the UV absorbance of the dye during irradiation was monitored. One wt.% TiO 2 in 30 mg/l Reactive Red 141 aqueous solution was found adequate for complete decolorization in 70 min at 770 W/m 2 irradiation power. It was realized that, compared to Degussa P-25, the synthesized nano-TiO 2 can be repeatedly used as a new catalyst. The results also proved that Reactive Red 141 is decomposed catalytically due to the pseudo first-order reaction kinetics

The synthesis of aqueous-dispersible anatase TiO2 nanoplatelets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shan Guobin; Demopoulos, George P

2010-01-01

Aqueous well-dispersed and phase-pure anatase TiO 2 truncated octahedron nanoplatelets (NPLs) were prepared via controlled hydrolysis of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl 4 ) in ethylene glycol at 240 deg. C. Two shapes, square and hexagon, were observed by microscopy, exactly corresponding to the truncated octahedron NPLs. Ethylene glycol was found to produce water in situ that reacts with TiCl 4 to produce TiO 2 and HCl-the latter promoting TiO 2 colloid peptization. TiO 2 truncated octahedron NPLs are formed under the stabilizing action of ethylene glycol thermolysis derivatives, such as aldehydes. Crystal growth of the TiO 2 NPLs was affected by the reaction temperature that determines the water production rate and HCl-assisted peptization. TGA and FT-IR results showed ∼1.2% ethylene glycol thermolysis derivatives are attached to the surface of the TiO 2 NPLs, which prevents their agglomeration, hence making them easily dispersible in aqueous media. HR-TEM and SAED results showed that the TiO 2 NPLs are well crystallized and that the SAED patterns of the single TiO 2 NPL changes with its size and shape. XRD patterns showed that the TiO 2 NPLs are phase-pure anatase and the percentage of the {101} plane in the TiO 2 NPLs to be only 18%-a structural feature that renders the TiO 2 NPLs with enhanced UV absorption and reactivity properties.

Preparation of anatase TiO2 thin films by vacuum arc plasma evaporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyata, Toshihiro; Tsukada, Satoshi; Minami, Tadatsugu

2006-01-01

Anatase titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) thin films with high photocatalytic activity have been prepared with deposition rates as high as 16 nm/min by a newly developed vacuum arc plasma evaporation (VAPE) method using sintered TiO 2 pellets as the source material. Highly transparent TiO 2 thin films prepared at substrate temperatures from room temperature to 400 deg. C exhibited photocatalytic activity, regardless whether oxygen (O 2 ) gas was introduced during the VAPE deposition. The highest photocatalytic activity and photo-induced hydrophilicity were obtained in anatase TiO 2 thin films prepared at 300 deg. C, which correlated to the best crystallinity of the films, as evidenced from X-ray diffraction. In addition, a transparent and conductive anatase TiO 2 thin film with a resistivity of 2.6 x 10 -1 Ω cm was prepared at a substrate temperature of 400 deg. C without the introduction of O 2 gas

Crystal growth and design of a facile synthesized uniform single crystalline football-like anatase TiO2 microspheres with exposed {0 0 1} facets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Bitao; Jin, Chunhua; Ju, Yue; Peng, Lingling; Tian, Liangliang; Wang, Jinbiao; Zhang, Tiejun

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Football-like TiO 2 synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. • The formation mechanism of football-like TiO 2 was investigated. • The DSSC efficiency assembled by football-like TiO 2 is 23.3% higher than P25. - Abstract: Uniform football-like anatase TiO 2 particles exposed by {0 0 1} facets were successfully synthesized by an environment-friendly, facile and low-temperature hydrothermal method in water solution without any additional capping agent. The crystallographic structure and the growth mechanism of anatase TiO 2 particles were investigated systematically by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), respectively. The formation mechanism of football-like anatase TiO 2 particles exposed by {0 0 1} facets is investigated. It was found that there existed a selective adsorption of F − ions on different facets by analyzed with the density functional theory (DFT) computer simulation results, and it would lead to a selective nucleation and crystal growth of anatase football-like TiO 2 particles. Additionally, this type of exposed {0 0 1} facets football-like TiO 2 microspheres were used as a scattering overlayer on a transparent P25 film for fabrication of photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The results showed that an overall light conversion efficiency of this film was 6.31%, which is higher than that of the overall efficiency (5.13%) obtained from the P25 photoanode owing to the superior light scattering effect of microspheres and excellent light reflecting ability of the mirror-like plane {0 0 1} facets

Preparation of thermally stable anatase TiO2 photocatalyst from TiOF2 precursor and its photocatalytic activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lv Kangle; Yu Jiaguo; Cui Longzhe; Chen Shulin; Li Mei

2011-01-01

Graphical abstract: The prepared anatase TiO 2 from TiOF 2 shows very high thermal stability (up to 1000 o C) and the 700 o C-calcined sample showed the highest photocatalytic activity. Display Omitted Research highlights: → TiOF 2 was prepared by a simple microwave assisted hydrothermal rout. → Anatase TiO 2 prepared by calcination of TiOF 2 shows high thermal stability. → F - play an important role in the improvement thermal stability of anatase TiO 2 . → The 700 o C-calcined sample shows the highest photocatalytic activity. - Abstract: Preparation of anatase TiO 2 with high themal stability is of great importance for its environmental application. In this work, TiOF 2 was first synthesized by a simple microwave-assisted hydrothermal route using tetrabutyl titanate and hydrofluoric acid as precursors at 200 o C for 20 min. Then the resulted precipitates were calcined at different temperatures (300-1000 o C) for 2 h. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectrum, scanning electron microscopy, N 2 adsorption-desorption isotherms and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated using Brilliant Red X3B, an anionic azo dye, as the target organic molecule under UV light irradiation. The results showed that the prepared TiOF 2 exhibited weak or no photocatalytic activity. The phase transformation of TiOF 2 to anatase TiO 2 occurred at about 300 o C. The prepared anatase TiO 2 from TiOF 2 showed very high thermal stability and the anatase-to-rutile phase transformation temperature was up to 1000 o C. Fluoride ions played an important role in the improvement of thermal stability of anatase TiO 2 by strongly adsorbing on the crystal planes of anatase to stabilize the anatase structure. The 700 o C-calcined sample showed the highest photocatalytic activity due to its relative good crystallization and high specific surface areas.

Soft-Template Synthesis of Mesoporous Anatase TiO2 Nanospheres and Its Enhanced Photoactivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaojia Li

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Highly crystalline mesoporous anatase TiO2 nanospheres with high surface area (higher than P25 and anatase TiO2 are prepared by a soft-template method. Despite the high specific surface area, these samples have three times lower equilibrium adsorption (<2% than Degussa P25. The rate constant of the mesoporous anatase TiO2 (0.024 min−1 reported here is 364% higher than that of P25 (0.0066 min−1, for the same catalytic loading. The results of oxidation-extraction photometry using several reactive oxygen species (ROS scavengers indicated that mesoporous anatase TiO2 generates more ROS than P25 under UV-light irradiation. This significant improvement in the photocatalytic performance of mesoporous spherical TiO2 arises from the following synergistic effects in the reported sample: (i high surface area; (ii improved crystallinity; (iii narrow pore wall thicknesses (ensuring the rapid migration of photogenerated carriers to the surface of the material; and (iv greater ROS generation under UV-light.

Production and Characterization of (004) Oriented Single Anatase TiO2 Films

Science.gov (United States)

Atay, Ferhunde; Akyuz, Idris; Cergel, Muge Soyleyici; Erdogan, Banu

2018-02-01

Highly (004) oriented anatase TiO2 films have been successfully obtained by an inexpensive ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique at low substrate temperatures and without additional annealing. X-ray diffraction analysis, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the structural, optical and surface properties of the films. By using the less reported TiCl4 solution, the optical band gap values falling into the visible region (between 2.70 eV and 2.92 eV) have been obtained for all films. Spectroscopic ellipsometry technique has been used to determine the dispersive refractive index and extinction coefficient of TiO2 films. Possible electrical conduction mechanisms in TiO2 films have been examined using temperature dependent conductivity measurements in the temperature range of 78-300 K. At room temperature, electrical resistivity values of TiO2 films change between 1.68 × 104 Ω cm and 5.88 × 104 Ω cm. Considering the analyzed parameters with respect to substrate temperature, this work refers to the properties of anatase TiO2 films that are strongly correlated to the growth direction, namely (004). As a result, (004) oriented anatase TiO2 films with appropriate optical band gap values are promising materials for technological applications, especially for photocatalysts.

Understanding the effect of surface/bulk defects on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2: anatase versus rutile.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Junqing; Wu, Guangjun; Guan, Naijia; Li, Landong; Li, Zhuoxin; Cao, Xingzhong

2013-07-14

The sole effect of surface/bulk defects of TiO2 samples on their photocatalytic activity was investigated. Nano-sized anatase and rutile TiO2 were prepared by hydrothermal method and their surface/bulk defects were adjusted simply by calcination at different temperatures, i.e. 400-700 °C. High temperature calcinations induced the growth of crystalline sizes and a decrease in the surface areas, while the crystalline phase and the exposed facets were kept unchanged during calcination, as indicated by the characterization results from XRD, Raman, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, TEM and UV-Vis spectra. The existence of surface/bulk defects in calcined TiO2 samples was confirmed by photoluminescence and XPS spectra, and the surface/bulk defect ratio was quantitatively analyzed according to positron annihilation results. The photocatalytic activity of calcined TiO2 samples was evaluated in the photocatalytic reforming of methanol and the photocatalytic oxidation of α-phenethyl alcohol. Based on the characterization and catalytic results, a direct correlation between the surface specific photocatalytic activity and the surface/bulk defect density ratio could be drawn for both anatase TiO2 and rutile TiO2. The surface defects of TiO2, i.e. oxygen vacancy clusters, could promote the separation of electron-hole pairs under irradiation, and therefore, enhance the activity during photocatalytic reaction.

Synthesis of titanate, TiO2 (B), and anatase TiO2 nanofibers from natural rutile sand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavasupree, Sorapong; Suzuki, Yoshikazu; Yoshikawa, Susumu; Kawahata, Ryoji

2005-01-01

Titanate nanofibers were synthesized by hydrothermal method (150 deg. C for 72 h) using natural rutile sand as the starting materials. TiO 2 (B) and anatase TiO 2 (high crystallinity) nanofibers with the diameters of 20-100 nm and the lengths of 10-100 μm were obtained by calcined titanate nanofibers for 4 h at 400 and 700 deg. C (in air), respectively. The samples characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, SAED, HRTEM, and BET surface area. This synthesis method provides a simple route to fabricate one-dimensional nanostructured TiO 2 from low cost material. -- Graphical abstract: Titanate nanofibers (b) were synthesized by hydrothermal method (150 deg. C for 72 h) using natural rutile sand (a) as the starting materials. TiO 2 (B) (c) and anatase TiO 2 (d) nanofibers with the diameters of 20-50 nm and the lengths of 10-100 μm were obtained by calcined titanate nanofibers for 4 h at 400 deg. C and 700 deg. C (in air), respectively

High-pressure polymorphs of anatase TiO2

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arlt, T.; Bermejo, M.; Blanco, M. A.

2000-01-01

The equation of state of anatase TiO2 has been determined experimentally-using polycrystalline as well as single-crystal material-and compared with theoretical calculations using the ab initio perturbed ion model. The results are highly consistent, the zero-pressure bulk modulus being 179(2) GPa ...

TiO2 thin-films on polymer substrates and their photocatalytic activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jae-Hun; Han, Yang-Su; Choy, Jin-Ho

2006-01-01

We have developed dip-coating process for TiO 2 -thin film on polymer substrates (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymer: ABS, polystyrene: PS). At first, a monodispersed and transparent TiO 2 nano-sol solution was prepared by the controlled hydrolysis of titanium iso-propoxide in the presence of acetylacetone and nitric acid catalyst at 80 deg. C. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns of the dried particles are indicative of crystalline TiO 2 with anatase-type structure. According to the XRD and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies, the mean particle size was estimated to be ca. 5 nm. The transparent thin films on ABS and PS substrates were fabricated by dip-coating process by changing the processing variables, such as the number of dip-coating and TiO 2 concentration in nano-sol solution. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis for the thin film samples reveals that the acetylacetone-modified TiO 2 nano-sol particles are effective for enhancing the interfacial adherence between films and polymeric substrates compared to the unmodified one. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) on the TiO 2 thin-films has also been systematically investigated

Completely oriented anatase TiO2 nanoarrays: topotactic growth and orientation-related efficient photocatalysis

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jingling; Wu, Qili; He, Shiman; Yan, Jing; Shi, Jianying; Chen, Jian; Wu, Mingmei; Yang, Xianfeng

2015-08-01

A TiO2 film has been facilely grown on a Ti foil via a general and simple acid vapor oxidation (AVO) strategy. Based on detailed characterization by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we found that the TiO2 film was composed of anatase nanoarrays highly oriented along their direction, resulting in a large exposed {001} top surface on the film. The growth mechanism based on a topotactic transformation was proposed according to a careful study of time-dependent experimental results. Resulting from the evaluation of photocatalytic performance compared with a commercial TiO2 photocatalyst (Degussa P25), the as-prepared oriented anatase TiO2 film showed higher efficiency for degradation of atrazine and acid orange II (AOII). The performance of photocatalysis is highly relevant to the preferential orientation. The efficient photocatalysis could be attributed to the highly reactive {001} facets on the anatase nanoarrays with super-hydrophilicity.A TiO2 film has been facilely grown on a Ti foil via a general and simple acid vapor oxidation (AVO) strategy. Based on detailed characterization by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we found that the TiO2 film was composed of anatase nanoarrays highly oriented along their direction, resulting in a large exposed {001} top surface on the film. The growth mechanism based on a topotactic transformation was proposed according to a careful study of time-dependent experimental results. Resulting from the evaluation of photocatalytic performance compared with a commercial TiO2 photocatalyst (Degussa P25), the as-prepared oriented anatase TiO2 film showed higher efficiency for degradation of atrazine and acid orange II (AOII). The performance of photocatalysis is highly relevant to the preferential orientation. The efficient photocatalysis could be attributed to the highly reactive {001

Optical Properties and Surface Morphology of Nano-composite PMMA: TiO2 Thin Films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyly Nyl Ismail; Ahmad Fairoz Aziz; Habibah Zulkefle

2011-01-01

There are two nano-composite PMMA: TiO 2 solutions were prepared in this research. First solution is nano-composite PMMA commercially available TiO 2 nanopowder and the second solution is nano-composite PMMA with self-prepared TiO 2 powder. The self-prepared TiO 2 powder is obtained by preparing the TiO 2 sol-gel. Solvo thermal method were used to dry the TiO 2 sol-gel and obtained TiO 2 crystal. Ball millers were used to grind the TiO 2 crystal in order to obtained nano sized powder. Triton-X was used as surfactant to stabilizer the composite between PMMA: TiO 2 . Besides comparing the nano-composite solution, we also studied the effect of the thin films thickness on the optical properties and surface morphology of the thin films. The thin films were deposited by sol-gel spin coating method on glass substrates. The optical properties and surface characterization were measured with UV-VIS spectrometer equipment and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The result showed that nano-composite PMMA with self prepared TiO 2 give high optical transparency than nano-composite PMMA with commercially available TiO 2 nano powder. The results also indicate as the thickness is increased the optical transparency are decreased. Both AFM images showed that the agglomerations of TiO 2 particles are occurred on the thin films and the surface roughness is increased when the thickness is increased. High agglomeration particles exist in the AFM images for nano-composite PMMA: TiO 2 with TiO 2 nano powder compare to the other nano-composite solution. (author)

Excess electrons at anatase TiO2 surfaces and interfaces: insights from first principles simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Selçuk, Sencer; Selloni, Annabella

2017-07-01

TiO2 is an important technological material with widespread applications in photocatalysis, photovoltaics and self-cleaning surfaces. Excess electrons from intrinsic defects, dopants and photoexcitation play a key role in the properties of TiO2 that are relevant to its energy-related applications. The picture of excess and photoexcited electrons in TiO2 is based on the polaron model, where the electron forms a localized state that is stabilized by an accompanying lattice distortion. Here, we focus on excess and photoexcited electrons in anatase, the TiO2 polymorph most relevant to photocatalysis and solar energy conversion. For anatase, evidence of both small and large electron polarons has been reported in the literature. In addition, several studies have revealed a remarkable dependence of the photocatalytic activity of anatase on the crystal surface. After an overview of experimental studies, we briefly discuss recent progress in the theoretical description of polaronic states in TiO2, and finally present a more detailed account of our computational studies on the trapping and dynamics of excess electrons near the most common anatase surfaces and aqueous interfaces. The results of these studies provide a bridge between surface science experiments under vacuum conditions and observations of crystal-face-dependent photocatalysis on anatase, and support the idea that optimization of the ratio between different anatase facets can help enhance the photocatalytic activity of this material.

Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for selective oxidation of amines into imines over TiO2(B)/anatase mixed-phase nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai, Jun; Yang, Juan; Wang, Xiaohan; Zhang, Lei; Li, Yingjie

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: Visible-light photocatalytic activities for selective oxidation of amines into imines are greatly affected by the crystal structure of TiO 2 catalysts and mixed-phase TiO 2 (B)/anatase possess higher photoactivity because of the moderate adsorption ability and efficient charge separation. - Highlights: • Visible-light photocatalytic oxidation of amines to imines is studied over different TiO 2 . • Photocatalytic activities are greatly affected by the crystal structure of TiO 2 nanowires. • Mixed-phase TiO 2 (B)/anatase exhibits higher catalytic activity than single-phase TiO 2 . • Enhanced activity is ascribed to efficient adsorption ability and interfacial charge separation. • Photoinduced charge transfer mechanism on TiO 2 (B)/anatase catalysts is also proposed. - Abstract: Wirelike catalysts of mixed-phase TiO 2 (B)/anatase TiO 2 , bare anatase TiO 2 and TiO 2 (B) are synthesized via calcining precursor hydrogen titanate obtained from hydrothermal process at different temperatures between 450 and 700 °C. Under visible light irradiation, mixed-phase TiO 2 (B)/anatase TiO 2 catalysts exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity in comparison with pure TiO 2 (B) and anatase TiO 2 toward selective oxidation of benzylamines into imines and the highest photocatalytic activity is achieved by TW-550 sample consisting of 65% TiO 2 (B) and 35% anatase. The difference in photocatalytic activities of TiO 2 samples can be attributed to the different adsorption abilities resulted from their crystal structures and interfacial charge separation driven by surface-phase junctions between TiO 2 (B) and anatase TiO 2 . Moreover, the photoinduced charge transfer mechanism of surface complex is also proposed over mixed-phase TiO 2 (B)/anatase TiO 2 catalysts. Advantages of this photocatalytic system include efficient utilization of solar light, general suitability to amines, reusability and facile separation of nanowires catalysts

Construction of anatase/rutile TiO2 hollow boxes for highly efficient photocatalytic performance

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Changchao; Zhang, Xiao; Yang, Ping

2018-02-01

Hollow TiO2 hierarchical boxes with suitable anatase and rutile ratios were designed for photocatalysis. The unique hierarchical structure was fabricated via a Topotactic synthetic method. CaTiO3 cubes were acted as the sacrificial templates to create TiO2 hollow hierarchical boxes with well-defined phase distribution. The phase composition of the hollow TiO2 hierarchical boxes is similar to that of TiO2 P25 nanoparticles (∼80% anatase, and 20% rutile). Compared with nanaoparticles, TiO2 hollow boxes with hierarchical structures exhibited an excellent performance in the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue organic pollutant. Quantificationally, the degradation rate of the hollow boxes is higher than that of TiO2 P25 nanoparticles by a factor of 2.7. This is ascribed that hollow structure provide an opportunity for using incident light more efficiently. The surface hierarchical and well-organized porous structures are beneficial to supply more active sites and enough transport channels for reactant molecules. The boxes consist of single crystal anatase and rutile combined well with each other, which gives photon-generated carriers transfer efficiently.

A fast-reliable methodology to estimate the concentration of rutile or anatase phases of TiO2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. R. Zanatta

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Titanium-dioxide (TiO2 is a low-cost, chemically inert material that became the basis of many modern applications ranging from, for example, cosmetics to photovoltaics. TiO2 exists in three different crystal phases − Rutile, Anatase and, less commonly, Brookite − and, in most of the cases, the presence or relative amount of these phases are essential to decide the TiO2 final application and its related efficiency. Traditionally, X-ray diffraction has been chosen to study TiO2 and provides both the phases identification and the Rutile-to-Anatase ratio. Similar information can be achieved from Raman scattering spectroscopy that, additionally, is versatile and involves rather simple instrumentation. Motivated by these aspects this work took into account various TiO2 Rutile+Anatase powder mixtures and their corresponding Raman spectra. Essentially, the method described here was based upon the fact that the Rutile and Anatase crystal phases have distinctive phonon features, and therefore, the composition of the TiO2 mixtures can be readily assessed from their Raman spectra. The experimental results clearly demonstrate the suitability of Raman spectroscopy in estimating the concentration of Rutile or Anatase in TiO2 and is expected to influence the study of TiO2-related thin films, interfaces, systems with reduced dimensions, and devices like photocatalytic and solar cells.

Toxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles to Escherichia coli: effects of particle size, crystal phase and water chemistry.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiuchun Lin

Full Text Available Controversial and inconsistent results on the eco-toxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs are commonly found in recorded studies and more experimental works are therefore warranted to elucidate the nanotoxicity and its underlying precise mechanisms. Toxicities of five types of TiO2 NPs with different particle sizes (10∼50 nm and crystal phases were investigated using Escherichia coli as a test organism. The effect of water chemistry on the nanotoxicity was also examined. The antibacterial effects of TiO2 NPs as revealed by dose-effect experiments decreased with increasing particle size and rutile content of the TiO2 NPs. More bacteria could survive at higher solution pH (5.0-10.0 and ionic strength (50-200 mg L(-1 NaCl as affected by the anatase TiO2 NPs. The TiO2 NPs with anatase crystal structure and smaller particle size produced higher content of intracellular reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde, in line with their greater antibacterial effect. Transmission electron microscopic observations showed the concentration buildup of the anatase TiO2 NPs especially those with smaller particle sizes on the cell surfaces, leading to membrane damage and internalization. These research results will shed new light on the understanding of ecological effects of TiO2 NPs.

Toxicity of TiO2 Nanoparticles to Escherichia coli: Effects of Particle Size, Crystal Phase and Water Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Xiuchun; Li, Jingyi; Ma, Si; Liu, Gesheng; Yang, Kun; Tong, Meiping; Lin, Daohui

2014-01-01

Controversial and inconsistent results on the eco-toxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) are commonly found in recorded studies and more experimental works are therefore warranted to elucidate the nanotoxicity and its underlying precise mechanisms. Toxicities of five types of TiO2 NPs with different particle sizes (10∼50 nm) and crystal phases were investigated using Escherichia coli as a test organism. The effect of water chemistry on the nanotoxicity was also examined. The antibacterial effects of TiO2 NPs as revealed by dose-effect experiments decreased with increasing particle size and rutile content of the TiO2 NPs. More bacteria could survive at higher solution pH (5.0–10.0) and ionic strength (50–200 mg L−1 NaCl) as affected by the anatase TiO2 NPs. The TiO2 NPs with anatase crystal structure and smaller particle size produced higher content of intracellular reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde, in line with their greater antibacterial effect. Transmission electron microscopic observations showed the concentration buildup of the anatase TiO2 NPs especially those with smaller particle sizes on the cell surfaces, leading to membrane damage and internalization. These research results will shed new light on the understanding of ecological effects of TiO2 NPs. PMID:25310452

Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles for degradation of methyl orange

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Manmeet; Duklan, Neha; Singh, Pritpal; Sharma, Jeewan

2018-05-01

In present study, TiO2 nanoparticles, in anatase form, were successfully synthesized using TiCl4 as precursor. These nanoparticles were synthesized by sol-gel method at room temperature (298 K). As prepared samples were characterized for phase structure, optical absorption and surface properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and UV-Visible spectroscopy. The synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles sample was compared with one of the most efficient commercial photocatalyst Degussa TiO2 also known as P(25). The effect of phase composition of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles, as compared to P(25), on photocatalytic decomposition of organic dye, methyl orange (MO) was studies under UV light illumination. An enhanced degradation of hazardous dye was observed in the presence of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles as compared to P(25) due to slow recombination rate. Other possible reasons for this enhancement have also been discussed.

GW quasiparticle bandgaps of anatase TiO2 starting from DFT + U.

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick, Christopher E; Giustino, Feliciano

2012-05-23

We investigate the quasiparticle band structure of anatase TiO(2), a wide gap semiconductor widely employed in photovoltaics and photocatalysis. We obtain GW quasiparticle energies starting from density-functional theory (DFT) calculations including Hubbard U corrections. Using a simple iterative procedure we determine the value of the Hubbard parameter yielding a vanishing quasiparticle correction to the fundamental bandgap of anatase TiO(2). The bandgap (3.3 eV) calculated using this optimal Hubbard parameter is smaller than the value obtained by applying many-body perturbation theory to standard DFT eigenstates and eigenvalues (3.7 eV). We extend our analysis to the rutile polymorph of TiO(2) and reach similar conclusions. Our work highlights the role of the starting non-interacting Hamiltonian in the calculation of GW quasiparticle energies in TiO(2) and suggests an optimal Hubbard parameter for future calculations.

Passivation of pigment-grade TiO2 particles by nanothick atomic layer deposited SiO2 films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, David M; Liang Xinhua; Weimer, Alan W; Burton, Beau B; Akhtar, M Kamal

2008-01-01

Pigment-grade TiO 2 particles were passivated using nanothick insulating films fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Conformal SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 layers were coated onto anatase and rutile powders in a fluidized bed reactor. SiO 2 films were deposited using tris-dimethylaminosilane (TDMAS) and H 2 O 2 at 500 deg. C. Trimethylaluminum and water were used as precursors for Al 2 O 3 ALD at 177 deg. C. The photocatalytic activity of anatase pigment-grade TiO 2 was decreased by 98% after the deposition of 2 nm SiO 2 films. H 2 SO 4 digest tests were performed to exhibit the pinhole-free nature of the coatings and the TiO 2 digest rate was 40 times faster for uncoated TiO 2 than SiO 2 coated over a 24 h period. Mass spectrometry was used to monitor reaction progress and allowed for dosing time optimization. These results demonstrate that the TDMAS-H 2 O 2 chemistry can deposit high quality, fully dense SiO 2 films on high radius of curvature substrates. Particle ALD is a viable passivation method for pigment-grade TiO 2 particles

Ecotoxicity of TiO2 to Daphnia similis under irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcone, Glauciene P.S.; Oliveira, Ádria C.; Almeida, Gilberto; Umbuzeiro, Gisela A.; Jardim, Wilson F.

2012-01-01

Graphical abstract: EC50 (mg L −1 ) values to TiO 2 samples obtained in toxicity tests with Daphnia similis under different conditions of illumination (UV A and visible radiation) and in the dark (as standard protocols). P25: commercial sample containing 30% rutile and 70% anatase; M-S: synthesized sample containing 30% rutile and 70% anatase; Anatase-S: synthesized sample containing 100% anatase; Rutile-S: synthesized sample containing 100% rutile and P25*: commercial sample containing 100% rutile. Highlights: ► Some key physicochemical parameters of nano TiO 2 explain the toxicity observed. ► Under UV A radiation, TiO 2 becomes more toxic to D. similis. ► Toxicity tests of photoactive nano materials require photons as control parameter. - Abstract: Currently, there are a large number of products (sunscreen, pigments, cosmetics, plastics, toothpastes and photocatalysts) that use TiO 2 nanoparticles. Due to this large production, these nanoparticles can be released into the aquatic, terrestrial and aerial environments at relative high concentration. TiO 2 in natural water has the capacity to harm aquatic organisms such as the Daphnia (Cladocera) species, mainly because the photocatalytic properties of this semiconductor. However, very few toxicity tests of TiO 2 nanoparticles have been conducted under irradiation. The aim of this study was to evaluate anatase and rutile TiO 2 toxicity to Daphnia similis exploring their photocatalytic properties by incorporating UV A and visible radiation as a parameter in the assays. Anatase and rutile TiO 2 samples at the highest concentration tested (100 mg L −1 ) were not toxic to D. similis, neither in the dark nor under visible light conditions. The anatase form and a mixture of anatase and rutile, when illuminated by a UV A black light with a peak emission wavelength of 360 nm, presented photo-dependent EC50 values of 56.9–7.8 mg L −1 , which indicates a toxicity mechanism caused by ROS (reactive oxygen species

Nano titanium dioxide photocatalytic protein tyrosine nitration: A potential hazard of TiO2 on skin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Naihao; Zhu Zhening; Zhao Xuqi; Tao Ran; Yang Xiangliang; Gao Zhonghong

2008-01-01

Protein tyrosine nitration is a prevalent post-translational modification which occurs as a result of oxidative and nitrative stress, it may be directly involved in the onset and/or progression of diseases. Considering the existence of nano titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) in environment and sunscreen products along with the high content of nitrite in sweat, the UV-exposed skin may be a significant target for the photosensitized damage. In this paper, tyrosine nitration of bovine serum albumin (BSA) was initiated in the UV-irradiated reaction mixture containing 0.2-3.0 mg/ml of three commercially nano TiO 2 products and 0.25-1.0 mM NO 2 - . It was found that anatase TiO 2 and Degussa P25 TiO 2 showed prominent photocatalytic activity on promoting the formation of protein tyrosine nitration, and the optimum condition for the reaction was around physiological pH. Meanwhile, the photocatalytic effect of rutile on protein tyrosine nitration was subtle. The potential physiological significance of nano TiO 2 -photocatalytic protein nitration was also demonstrated in mouse skin homogenate. Although the relationship between photocatalytic protein tyrosine nitration and chronic cutaneous diseases needs further study, the toxicity of nano TiO 2 to the skin disease should be paid more attention in the production and utilization process

First-principles investigation of aluminum intercalation and diffusion in TiO2 materials: Anatase versus rutile

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Weiqiang; Xuan, Jin; Wang, Huizhi; Zhao, Shuangliang; Liu, Honglai

2018-04-01

Aluminum-ion batteries, emerging as a promising post-lithium battery solution, have been a subject of increasing research interest. Yet, most existing aluminum-ion research has focused on electrode materials development and synthesis. There has been a lack of fundamental understanding of the electrode processes and thus theoretical guidelines for electrode materials selection and design. In this study, by using density functional theory, we for the first time report a first-principles investigation on the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of aluminum intercalation into two common TiO2 polymorphs, i.e., anatase and rutile. After examining the aluminum intercalation sites, intercalation voltages, storage capacities and aluminum diffusion paths in both cases, we demonstrate that the stable aluminum intercalation site locates at the center of the O6 octahedral for TiO2 rutile and off center for TiO2 anatase. The maximum achievable Al/Ti ratios for rutile and anatase are 0.34375 and 0.36111, respectively. Although rutile is found to have an aluminum storage capacity slightly higher than anatase, the theoretical specific energy of rutile can reach 20.90 Wh kg-1, nearly twice as high as anatase (9.84 Wh kg-1). Moreover, the diffusion coefficient of aluminum ions in rutile is 10-9 cm2 s-1, significantly higher than that in anatase (10-20 cm2 s-1). In this regard, TiO2 rutile appears to be a better candidate than anatase as an electrode material for aluminum-ion batteries.

Synthesis of Si, N co-Doped Nano-Sized TiO2 with High Thermal Stability and Photocatalytic Activity by Mechanochemical Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peisan Wang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Τhe photocatalytic activity in the range of visible light wavelengths and the thermal stability of the structure were significantly enhanced in Si, N co-doped nano-sized TiO2, and synthesized through high-energy mechanical milling of TiO2 and SiO2 powders, which was followed by calcination at 600 °C in an ammonia atmosphere. High-energy mechanical milling had a pronounced effect on the mixing and the reaction between the starting powders and greatly favored the transformation of the resultant powder mixture into an amorphous phase that contained a large number of evenly-dispersed nanocrystalline TiO2 particles as anatase seeds. The experimental results suggest that the elements were homogeneously dispersed at an atomic level in this amorphous phase. After calcination, most of the amorphous phase was crystallized, which resulted in a unique nano-sized crystalline-core/disordered-shell morphology. This novel experimental process is simple, template-free, and provides features of high reproducibility in large-scale industrial production.

Effect of laser irradiation on the structural, morphological and electrical properties of polycrystalline TiO2 thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, M. I.; Ali, Asghar

TiO2 thin film is deposited on glass substrate by sol-gel dip coating technique. After deposition, films were irradiated by continuous wave (CW) diode laser at an angle of 45°. XRD shows both the anatase and brookite phases of TiO2. Nano particles of regular and control sizes are appeared in SEM micrographs. Therefore, shape and size of nano particles can be control by using Laser irradiation. The average sheet resistivity of TiO2 thin film irradiated by 0, 2, 4 and 6 min are 6.72 × 105, 5.32 × 105, 3.44 × 105 and 4.95 × 105 (ohm-m) respectively, according to four point probe.

Facile synthesis of high-temperature (1000 °C) phase-stable rice-like anatase TiO2 nanocrystals

Science.gov (United States)

Lv, Lizhen; Chen, Qirong; Liu, Xiuyun; Wang, Miaomiao; Meng, Xiangfu

2015-05-01

High-temperature phase-stable rice-like anatase TiO2 nanocrystals were synthesized by one-pot solvothermal method using soluble titania xerogel and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as the precursor and the solvent, respectively. Sample characterization was carried out by powder X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. The results showed that TiO2 nanocrystals had rice-like shapes with an average size of 5 nm in width and 35 nm in length. The BET surface area was 153 m2/g. Unexpectedly, the rice-like TiO2 nanocrystals exhibited high-temperature phase stability, which could remain as pure anatase phase after calcinations at 1000 °C. Growth mechanism investigation revealed that the IPA solvent played a key role in nucleation and growth of rice-like anatase TiO2 nanocrystals. The photodegradation of rhodamine B demonstrated that rice-like anatase TiO2 nanocrystals exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation.

Effect of laser irradiation on the structural, morphological and electrical properties of polycrystalline TiO2 thin films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.I. Khan

Full Text Available TiO2 thin film is deposited on glass substrate by sol-gel dip coating technique. After deposition, films were irradiated by continuous wave (CW diode laser at an angle of 45°. XRD shows both the anatase and brookite phases of TiO2. Nano particles of regular and control sizes are appeared in SEM micrographs. Therefore, shape and size of nano particles can be control by using Laser irradiation. The average sheet resistivity of TiO2 thin film irradiated by 0, 2, 4 and 6 min are 6.72 × 105, 5.32 × 105, 3.44 × 105 and 4.95 × 105 (ohm-m respectively, according to four point probe. Keywords: TiO2, Diode laser, XRD, SEM

Preparation of TiO2 thin films from autoclaved sol containing needle-like anatase crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ge Lei; Xu Mingxia; Fang Haibo; Sun Ming

2006-01-01

A new inorganic sol-gel method was introduced in this paper to prepare TiO 2 thin films. The autoclaved sol with needle-like anatase crystals was synthesized using titanyl sulfate (TiOSO 4 ) and peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) as starting materials. The transparent anatase TiO 2 thin films were prepared on glass slides from the autoclaved sol by sol-gel dip-coating method. A wide range of techniques such as Fourier transform infrared transmission spectra (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), scanning electron microscopes, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet-visible spectrum were applied to characterize the autoclaved sol and TiO 2 thin films. The results indicate that the autoclaved sol is flavescent, semitransparent and stable at room temperature. The anatase crystals of TiO 2 films connect together to form net-like structure after calcined and the films become uniform with increasing heating temperature. The surface of the TiO 2 films contain not only Ti and O elements, but also a small amount of N and Na elements diffused from substrates during heat treatment. The TiO 2 films are transparent and their maximal light transmittances exceed 80% under visible light region

The photocatalytic application and regeneration of anatase thin films with embedded commercial TiO2 particles deposited on glass microrods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medina-Valtierra, Jorge; Garcia-Servin, Josafat; Frausto-Reyes, Claudio; Calixto, Sergio

2006-01-01

Anatase thin films ( 2 were prepared by sol-gel method. TiO 2 -anatase thin films were deposited on a fiberglass substrate and then ground to obtain glass microrods containing the composite films. The film structure was characterized using Raman spectroscopy, atomic absorption and UV-vis spectrophotometry, and atomic force microscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the composite films, calcined at 450 deg. C, and the regeneration of the activity under the same experimental conditions, were assessed using gas chromatography to study the photodegradation of phenol, an industrial pollutant, in water under 365 nm irradiation. The film with 15.0 wt.% of P25 TiO 2 was found to be more photoactive (54 ppm of degraded phenol at 6 h of illumination) than the other ones

TiO2 (NanoParticles Extracted from Sugar-Coated Confectionery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martina Lorenzetti

2017-01-01

Full Text Available As the debate about TiO2 food additive safety is still open, the present study focuses on the extraction and characterisation of TiO2 (nanoparticles added as a whitening agent to confectionary products, that is, chewing gum pellets. The aim was to (1 determine the colloidal properties of suspensions mutually containing TiO2 and all other chewing gum ingredients in biologically relevant media (preingestion conditions; (2 characterise the TiO2 (nanoparticles extracted from the chewing gum coating (after ingestion; and (3 verify their potential photocatalysis. The particle size distribution, in agreement with the zeta potential results, indicated that a small but significant portion of the particle population retained mean dimensions close to the nanosize range, even in conditions of moderate stability, and in presence of all other ingredients. The dispersibility was enhanced by proteins (i.e., albumin, which acted as surfactants and reduced particle size. The particle extraction methods involved conventional techniques and no harmful chemicals. The presence of TiO2 particles embedded in the sugar-based coating was confirmed, including 17–30% fraction in the nanorange (<100 nm. The decomposition of organics under UV irradiation proved the photocatalytic activity of the extracted (nanoparticles. Surprisingly, photocatalysis occurred even in presence of an amorphous SiO2 layer surrounding the TiO2 particles.

Application of nitrogen-doped TiO2 nano-tubes in dye-sensitized solar cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tran, Vy Anh; Thinh Troung, Trieu; Pham Phan, Thu Anh

2017-01-01

Our research aimed to improve the overall energy conversion efficiency of DSCs by applying nitrogen-doped TiO2 nano-tubes (N-TNT) for the preparation of DSCs photo-anodes. The none-doped TiO2 nano-tubes (TNTs) were synthesized by alkaline hydrothermal treatment of Degussa P25 TiO2 particles in 10...

Three-dimensional self-branching anatase TiO_2 nanorods with the improved carrier collection for SrTiO_3-based perovskite solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Yajing; Wang, Chen; Tang, Ying; Huang, Lu; Fu, Jianxun; Shi, Weimin; Wang, Linjun; Yang, Weiguang

2016-01-01

The organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells based on ternary oxide SrTiO_3 shows a higher Voc, attributed to its slightly higher conduction band edge and better morphology of absorber material. However, its less efficient carrier collection and limited overall interfacial areas between the absorber material and the electron-transport layer (ETL), dramatically reducing the Jsc. Here, By adjusting the concentrations of the Ti(OBu)_4, we successfully prepared the three-dimensional (3D) self-branching anatase TiO_2 nanorod/SrTiO_3 nanocomposites, and slightly tuned the particle size of SrTiO_3. With the incorporation of the three-dimensional (3D) self-branching anatase TiO_2 nanorod, the Jsc of the device based on SrTiO_3 was highly boosted. The best performing solar cell we obtained exhibited a PCE of 9.99% with a Jsc of 19.48 mA/cm"2. The excellent performance could be ascribed to the improvement of charge carrier collection of SrTiO_3, better surface coverage and crystallinity of CH_3NH_3PbI_3, and enhanced light scattering ability caused by 3D self-branching anatase TiO_2 nanorods. - Highlights: • The three-dimensional (3D) self-branching anatase TiO_2 nanorod/SrTiO_3 nanocomposites were prepared. • The particle sizes of SrTiO_3 can be slightly tuned. • The best performing solar cell we obtained exhibited a PCE of 9.99% with the Jsc of 19.48 mA/cm"2.

Nano-crystalline thin and nano-particulate thick TiO2 layer: Cost effective sequential deposition and study on dye sensitized solar cell characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Das, P.; Sengupta, D.; Kasinadhuni, U.; Mondal, B.; Mukherjee, K.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Thin TiO 2 layer is deposited on conducting substrate using sol–gel based dip coating. • TiO 2 nano-particles are synthesized using hydrothermal route. • Thick TiO 2 particulate layer is deposited on prepared thin layer. • Dye sensitized solar cells are made using thin and thick layer based photo-anode. • Introduction of thin layer in particulate photo-anode improves the cell efficiency. - Abstract: A compact thin TiO 2 passivation layer is introduced between the mesoporous TiO 2 nano-particulate layer and the conducting glass substrate to prepare photo-anode for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). In order to understand the effect of passivation layer, other two DSSCs are also developed separately using TiO 2 nano-particulate and compact thin film based photo-anodes. Nano-particles are prepared using hydrothermal synthesis route and the compact passivation layer is prepared by simply dip coating the precursor sol prepared through wet chemical route. The TiO 2 compact layer and the nano-particles are characterised in terms of their micro-structural features and phase formation behavior. It is found that introduction of a compact TiO 2 layer in between the mesoporous TiO 2 nano-particulate layer and the conducting substrate improves the solar to electric conversion efficiency of the fabricated cell. The dense thin passivation layer is supposed to enhance the photo-excited electron transfer and prevent the recombination of photo-excited electrons

Influence of concentration of H2O2 on the phase stability of TiO2-anatase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montanhera, M.A.; Pereira, E.A.; Paula, F.R.; Spada, E.R.; Faria, R.M.

2014-01-01

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is a semiconductor what has attracted increasing attention because of its physical and chemical properties. In this work, we report the preparation of TiO 2 nanoparticles by dissolving of titanium oxysulfate (TiOSO 4 ) in aqueous solution containing hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and subsequent thermal treatment of the precipitated complex. The results of X-ray diffractometry showed that the first stage of heat treatment at 600°C generates the anatase phase at all concentrations of H 2 O 2 investigated. On the other hand, when treated at 825 deg C, prepared samples with lower concentrations of H 2 O 2 (0.009 and 0.017 mol/L) showed only the rutile phase and for concentrations starting from 0.088 mol/L, is obtained only anatase phase. When the heat treatment is performed at 900°C, phase-pure anatase is obtained only for concentrations higher than 0.122 mol/L. The stability of the phase anatase is related to the crystallite size obtained of the first stage of heat treatment. When the heat treatment is performed at 900°C, phase-pure anatase is obtained only at higher concentrations than 0.122 mol/L. The stability of the phase anatase is related to the crystallite sizes obtained in the first step of heat treatment. (author)

Revelation of rutile phase by Raman scattering for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance of hydrothermally-grown anatase TiO2 film

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Hsun-Wei; Liao, Kuo-Lun; Yang, Jih-Sheng; Wu, Jih-Jen

2018-05-01

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) performances of the anatase TiO2 films hydrothermally grown on the seeded fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates are examined in this work. Structural characterizations of the TiO2 films were conducted using Raman scattering spectroscopy. Although there is no obvious rutile peak appearing, an asymmetrical peak centered at ∼399 cm-1 was observed in the Raman spectra of the TiO2 films deposited either on the low-temperature-formed seed layers or with low concentrations of Ti precursor. The asymmetrical Raman shift can be deconvoluted into the B1g mode of anatase and Eg mode of rutile TiO2 peaks centered at ∼399 cm-1 and ∼447 cm-1, respectively. Therefore, a minute quantity of rutile phase was inspected in the anatase film using Raman scattering spectroscopy. With the same light harvesting ability, we found that the PEC performance of the anatase TiO2 film was significantly enhanced as the minute quantity of rutile phase existing in the film. It is ascribed to the formation of the anatase/rutile heterojunction which is beneficial to the charge separation in the photoanode.

Preparation of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles using low hydrothermal temperature for dye-sensitized solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Sofyan, N.; Ridhova, A.; Yuwono, A. H.; Udhiarto, A.

2018-03-01

One device being developed as an alternative source of renewable energy by utilizing solar energy source is dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). This device works using simple photosynthetic-electrochemical principle in the molecular level. In this device, the inorganic oxide semiconductor of titanium dioxide (TiO2) has a great potential for the absorption of the photon energy from the solar energy source, especially in the form of TiO2 nanoparticle structure. This nanoparticle structure is expected to improve the performance of DSSC because the surface area to weight ratio of this nanostructures is very large. In this study, the synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticle from its precursors has been performed along with the fabrication of the DSSC device. Effort to improve the size of nanocrystalline anatase TiO2 was accomplished by low hydrothermal treatment at various temperatures whereas the crystallinity of the anatase phase in the structure was performed by calcination process. Characterization of the materials was performed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), while the DSSC performance was examined through a high precision current versus voltage (I-V) curve analyzer. The results showed that pure anatase TiO2 nanoparticles could be obtained at low hydrothermal of 100, 125, and 150 °C followed by calcination at 450 °C. The best performance of photocurrent-voltage characteristic was given by TiO2 hydrothermally synthesized at 150 °C with power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.40 %, whereas the standard TiO2 nanoparticles has PCE only 4.02 %. This result is very promising in terms low temperature and thus low cost of anatase TiO2 semiconductor preparation for DSSC application.

Mo-doped Gray Anatase TiO2: Lattice Expansion for Enhanced Sodium Storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liao, Hanxiao; Xie, Lingling; Zhang, Yan; Qiu, Xiaoqing; Li, Simin; Huang, Zhaodong; Hou, Hongshuai; Ji, Xiaobo

2016-01-01

Gray-colored Mo 6+ -doped anatase TiO 2 is prepared uniformly with particle size of 10–20 nm, and is firstly employed as anode material in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), presenting excellent electrochemical performances. It delivered reversible specific capacities of 231.8 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C (33.5 mA g −1 ) after 100 cycles and 108.3 mAh g −1 at 5 C (1.68 A g −1 ), comparing to 170.5 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C and only 41.7 mAh g −1 at 5C for the bare TiO 2 . The improved electrochemical performances might be beneficial from the doping of Mo 6+ , which can effectively enhance the conductivity of TiO 2 resulting from induced conduction band electrons, interstitial oxygen defects and vacancies. In addition, the doping can also lead to the lattice expansion, which can facilitate the diffusion of Na + . In combination with natural abundance and environmental benignity, Mo 6+ -doped TiO 2 can be expected to be utilized as an anode material for enhanced sodium storage.

Uniform Gold-Nanoparticle-Decorated {001}-Faceted Anatase TiO2 Nanosheets for Enhanced Solar-Light Photocatalytic Reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Huimin; Zhang, Shi; Zhu, Xupeng; Liu, Yu; Wang, Tao; Jiang, Tian; Zhang, Guanhua; Duan, Huigao

2017-10-25

The {001}-faceted anatase TiO 2 micro-/nanocrystals have been widely investigated for enhancing the photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical performance of TiO 2 nanostructures, but their practical applications still require improved energy conversion efficiency under solar-light and enhanced cycling stability. In this work, we demonstrate the controlled growth of ultrathin {001}-faceted anatase TiO 2 nanosheets on flexible carbon cloth for enhancing the cycling stability, and the solar-light photocatalytic performance of the synthesized TiO 2 nanosheets can be significantly improved by decorating with vapor-phase-deposited uniformly distributed plasmonic gold nanoparticles. The fabricated Au-TiO 2 hybrid system shows an 8-fold solar-light photocatalysis enhancement factor in photodegrading Rhodamine B, a high photocurrent density of 300 μA cm -2 under the illumination of AM 1.5G, and 100% recyclability under a consecutive long-term cycling measurement. Combined with electromagnetic simulations and systematic control experiments, it is believed that the tandem-type separation and transition of plasmon-induced hot electrons from Au nanoparticles to the {001} facet of anatase TiO 2 , and then to the neighboring {101} facet, is responsible for the enhanced solar-light photochemical performance of the hybrid system. The Au-TiO 2 nanosheet system addresses well the problems of the limited solar-light response of anatase TiO 2 and fast recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, representing a promising high-performance recyclable solar-light-responding system for practical photocatalytic reactions.

Microstructure evolution characteristics induced by oxygen vacancy generation in anatase TiO2 based resistive switching devices

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chen; Gao, Bin; Huang, Peng; Kang, Jinfeng

2017-03-01

In this work, first principle calculations are employed to study the microstructure characteristics of the anatase TiO2 resistive switching material associated with the generation of oxygen vacancy (V o) based nanofilaments during the switching process. The calculations indicate that both the magnéli phase Ti4O7 and V o-defect phase of anatase TiO2 may be formed with the generation of oxygen vacancies during the forming and SET processes. Based on the calculations, a new physical insight is proposed to clarify the microstructure evolution characteristics of the anatase TiO2 resistive switching material and the correlation with resistive switching behaviors. During the forming or SET process, the anatase TiO2 is first excited to a transition state with the generation of oxygen vacancies, then fully relaxes to a stable V o-defect state. This V o-defect state may either recover to the original state with the recombination of the oxygen vacancies, which causes the reversible resistive switching behavior, or further transform to a much more stable state—the magnéli phase Ti4O7, through a phase transition process with the generation of many more oxygen vacancies. The phase transition from V o- defective anatase phase to magnéli phase Ti4O7 causes the failure of the resistive switching due to the significantly reduced possibility of the reversible phase transition from the magnéli phase to the anatase phase, compared with the possibility of the recombination from the V o-defective anatase.

Superior environment resistance of quartz crystal microbalance with anatase TiO2/ZnO nanorod composite films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiang, Wei; Wei, Li; Shaodan, Wang; Yu, Bai

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: ZnO nanorod array being prepared by an in situ method on the QCM coated with Au film via hydrothermal process and surface modification with coated TiO 2 by sol–gel methods to form a superhydrophobic TiO 2 /ZnO composite film the anatase TiO 2 /ZnO nanorod composite film with a sharp, pencil-like structure exhibiting excellent superhydrophobicity (water contact angle of 155°), non-sticking water properties, and an autonomous cleaning property under UV irradiation. The anatase TiO 2 /ZnO nanorod composite film facilitates the precise measurement and extended lifetime of the QCM for the detection of organic gas molecules. - Highlights: • This work combines, for the first time, the advantage of the TiO 2 /ZnO composite film on photocatalysis and reversible super-hydrophobic and super-hydrophilic transition, and puts forward a solution to satisfy weatherability of quartz crystal microbalance in long-term application. • The anatase TiO 2 /ZnO nanorod composite film with pencil structure exhibit excellent super-hydrophobicity (water contact angle can reach 155°), no-sticking water properties and self-cleaning property under UV irradiation. • The photocatalysis and reversible super-hydrophobic and super-hydrophilic transition of the TiO 2 /ZnO nanorod composite film is stable in long-term application. - Abstract: The precise measurement of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) in the detection and weighing of organic gas molecules is achieved due to excellent superhydrophobicity of a deposited film composite. Photocatalysis is utilized as a method for the self-cleaning of organic molecules on the QCM for extended long-term stability in the precision of the instrument. In this paper, ZnO nanorod array is prepared via in situ methods on the QCM coated with Au film via hydrothermal process. Subsequently, a TiO 2 /ZnO composite film is synthesized by surface modification with TiO 2 via sol–gel methods. Results show the anatase TiO 2 /ZnO nanorod

Superhydrophilicity of TiO2 nano thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammadizadeh, M.R.; Ashkarran, A.A.

2007-01-01

Full text: Among the several oxide semiconductors, titanium dioxide has a more helpful role in our environmental purification due to its photocatalytic activity, photo-induced superhydrophilicity, and as a result of them non-toxicity, self cleaning, and antifogging effects. After the discovery of superhydrophilicity of titanium dioxide in 1997, several researches have been performed due to its nature and useful applications. The superhydrophilicity property of the surface allows water to spread completely across the surface rather than remains as droplets, thus making the surface antifog and easy-to-clean. The distinction of photo-induced catalytic and hydrophilicity properties of TiO 2 thin films has been accepted although, the origin of hydrophilicity property has not been recognized completely yet. TiO 2 thin films on soda lime glass were prepared by the sol-gel method and spin coating process. The calcination temperature was changed from 100 to 550 C. XRD patterns show increasing the content of polycrystalline anatase phase with increasing the calcination temperature. The AFM results indicate granular morphology of the films, which particle size changes from 22 to 166 nm by increasing the calcination temperature. The RBS, EDX and Raman spectroscopy of the films show the ratio of Ti:O∼0.5, and diffusion of sodium ions from substrate into the layer, by increasing the calcination temperature. The UV/Vis. spectroscopy of the films indicates a red shift by increasing the calcination temperature. The contact angle meter experiment shows that superhydrophilicity of the films depends on the formation of anatase crystal structure and diffused sodium content from substrate to the layer. The best hydrophilicity property was observed at 450 C calcination temperature, where the film is converted to a superhydrophilic surface after 10 minutes under 2mW/cm 2 UV irradiation. TiO 2 thin film on Si(111), Si(100), and quartz substrates needs less time to be converted to

Photodegradation of phenol by N-Doped TiO2 anatase/rutile nanorods assembled microsphere under UV and visible light irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohamed, Mohamad Azuwa; Salleh, W.N.W.; Jaafar, Juhana; Ismail, A.F.; Nor, Nor Azureen Mohamad

2015-01-01

N-doped TiO 2 anatase/rutile nanorods assembled microspheres were successfully synthesized via a simple and direct sol–gel method containing titanium-n-butoxide Ti(OBu) 4 as a precursor material, nitric acid as a catalyst, and isopropanol as a solvent. By manipulating calcination temperature, the photocatalyst consisting of different phase compositions of anatase and rutile was obtained. The prepared TiO 2 nanoparticles were characterized by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning microscope (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy, and fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The results from UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy and FTIR revealed the direct incorporation of nitrogen in TiO 2 lattice since visible absorption capability was observed at 400–600 nm. XPS study indicated the incorporation of nitrogen as dopant in TiO 2 at binding energies of 396.8, 397.5, 398.7, 399.8, and 401 eV. Calcination temperature was observed to have a great influence on the photocatalytic activity of the TiO 2 nanorods. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared mixed phase of anatase/rutile TiO 2 nanoparticles was measured by photodegradation phenol in an aqueous solution under UV and visible irradiations. N-doped TiO 2 anatase/rutile nanorods assembled microsphere (consists of 38.3% anatase and 61.7% rutile) that was prepared at 400 °C exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity after irradiated under visible and UV light for 540 min. The high performance of photocatalyst materials could be obtained by adopting a judicious combination of anatase/rutile prepared at optimum calcination conditions. - Highlights: • Synthesis of N-Doped TiO 2 Anatase/Rutile Nanorods via simple preparation method. • Direct incorporation of HNO 3 as the nitrogen dopant source. • The photocatalytic properties were studied upon UV and visible light irradiation. • The optimum calcination temperature is 400 °C for

Anatase TiO2 single crystals with dominant {0 0 1} facets: Synthesis, shape-control mechanism and photocatalytic activity

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Huifen; Zhou, Yingying; Chang, Gang; Li, Pai; Zhu, Ruizhi; He, Yunbin

2018-06-01

Anatase TiO2 micro-crystals with 51% surface exposing highly active {0 0 1} facets are prepared by hydrothermal synthesis using TiF4 as Ti resource and HF as morphology control agent. In addition, anatase TiO2 single crystals exposing large {0 0 1} crystal facets are facilely synthesized with "green" NaF plus HCl replacing HF for the morphology control. A series of comparative experiments are carried out for separately studying the effects of F- and H+ concentrations on the growth of TiO2 crystals, which have not been understood very much in depth so far. The results indicate that both F- and H+ synergistically affect the synthesis of truncated anatase octahedrons, where F- is preferentially adsorbed on the {0 0 1} facets resulting in lateral growth of these facets and H+ adjusts the growth rate of anatase TiO2 along different orientations by tuning the hydrolysis rate. Based on this information, anatase TiO2 single crystals with small size (1.3 μm) and large exposure of {0 0 1} facets (45%) are successfully prepared under optimal conditions ([H+]/[F-] = 20:1). Photocatalytic activities of the as-prepared products toward methylene blue photo-degradation are further tested. It is revealed that both crystal size and percentage of {0 0 1} facets are decisive for the photocatalytic performance, and the crystals with a small size (1.3 μm) and large exposure of {0 0 1} facets (45%) are catalytically most active. This work has clarified the main factors that control the growth process and morphology of anatase TiO2 single crystals for achieving superior photocatalytic properties.

Hydrothermal synthesis, characterization, photocatalytic activity and dye-sensitized solar cell performance of mesoporous anatase TiO2 nanopowders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavasupree, Sorapong; Jitputti, Jaturong; Ngamsinlapasathian, Supachai; Yoshikawa, Susumu

2008-01-01

Mesoporous anatase TiO 2 nanopowder was synthesized by hydrothermal method at 130 deg. C for 12 h. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), HRTEM, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. The as-synthesized sample with narrow pore size distribution had average pore diameter about 3-4 nm. The specific BET surface area of the as-synthesized sample was about 193 m 2 /g. Mesoporous anatase TiO 2 nanopowders (prepared by this study) showed higher photocatalytic activity than the nanorods TiO 2 , nanofibers TiO 2 mesoporous TiO 2 , and commercial TiO 2 nanoparticles (P-25, JRC-01, and JRC-03). The solar energy conversion efficiency (η) of the cell using the mesoporous anatase TiO 2 was about 6.30% with the short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 13.28 mA/cm 2 , the open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.702 V and the fill factor (ff) of 0.676; while η of the cell using P-25 reached 5.82% with Jsc of 12.74 mA/cm 2 , Voc of 0.704 V and ff of 0.649

TiO2-Anatase Nanowire Dispersed Composite Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asagoe, K; Suzuki, Y; Ngamsinlapasathian, S; Yoshikawa, S

2007-01-01

TiO 2 anatase nanowires have been prepared by a hydrothermal process followed by post-heat treatment in air. TiO 2 nanoparticle/TiO 2 nanowire composite electrodes were prepared for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) in order to improve light-to-electricity conversion efficiency. The TiO 2 NP/TiO 2 NW composite cells showed higher DSC performance than ordinary nanoparticle cells and fully nanowire cells: efficiency (η = 6.53 % for DSC with 10% nanowire, whereas 5.59% for 0% nanowire, and 2.42% for 100% nanowire

Photocatalytic properties of nano-structured TiO2-carbon films obtained by means of electrophoretic deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peralta-Hernandez, J.M.; Manriquez, J.; Meas-Vong, Y.; Rodriguez, Francisco J.; Chapman, Thomas W.; Maldonado, Manuel I.; Godinez, Luis A.

2007-01-01

Recent studies have shown that the light-absorption and photocatalytic efficiencies of TiO 2 can be improved by coupling TiO 2 nano-particles with nonmetallic dopants, such as carbon. In this paper, we describe the electrophoretic preparation of a novel TiO 2 -carbon nano-composite photocatalyst on a glass indium thin oxide (ITO) substrate. The objective is to take better advantage of the (e - /h + ) pair generated by photoexcitation of semiconducting TiO 2 particles. The transfer of electrons (e - ) into adjacent carbon nano-particles promotes reduction of oxygen to produce hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) which, in the presence of iron ions, can subsequently form hydroxyl radicals ( · OH) via the Fenton reaction. At the same time, · OH is formed from water by the (h + ) holes in the TiO 2 . Thus, the · OH oxidant is produced by two routes. The efficiency of this photolytic-Fenton process was tested with a model organic compound, Orange-II (OG-II) azo dye, which is employed in the textile industry

Clarification of the interaction between Au atoms and the anatase TiO2 (112) surface using density functional theory

Science.gov (United States)

Tada, Kohei; Koga, Hiroaki; Okumura, Mitsutaka; Tanaka, Shingo

2018-04-01

A model (112) surface slab of anatase TiO2 (112) was optimized, and the adsorption of Au atoms onto the (112) surface was investigated by first-principles calculations based on DFT (density functional theory) with the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). Furthermore, the results were compared with those of Au/anatase TiO2 (101) system. The (112) surface has a ridge and a groove (zig-zag structure). The Au atoms were strongly adsorbed in the grooves but became unstable as they climbed toward the ridges, and the promotion of electrons in the 5d orbitals to the 6s and 6p orbitals in the absorbed Au atom occurred. At the Au/anatase TiO2 interface, the Au-Ti4+ coordinate bond in the (112) system is stronger than that in the (101) system because the promotion of electrons is greater in the former interaction than the latter. The results suggest that Au/anatase TiO2 catalysts with a higher dispersion of Au nanoparticles could be prepared when the (112) surface is preferentially exposed.

Coexistence of an anatase/TiO2(B) heterojunction and an exposed (001) facet in TiO2 nanoribbon photocatalysts synthesized via a fluorine-free route and topotactic transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Changhua; Zhang, Xintong; Liu, Yichun

2014-05-21

In this work, we report a novel approach to fabricate hierarchical TiO2 microspheres (HTMS) assembled by ultrathin nanoribbons where an anatase/TiO2(B) heterojunction and high energy facet coexist. The as-adopted approach involves (1) nonaqueous solvothermal treatment of a mixture of tetrabutyl titanate and acetic acid and (2) topotactical transformation into HTMS via thermal annealing. By this approach, the TiO2(B) phase usually synthesized from an alkaline treatment route could be initially formed. Subsequently, phase transition from TiO2(B) to anatase TiO2 occurs upon thermal treatment. It is demonstrated that such phase transition is accompanied by crystallographic orientation along the c-axis of anatase and TiO2(B) crystals, resulting in not only a coherent interface between two phases but also oriented attachment of anatase mesocrystals along the [001] direction, and finally high-energy (001) facet exposure. Interestingly, this work provides an alternative fluorine-free route for the synthesis of TiO2 crystals with high-energy (001) facet exposure. The structural analysis reveals that lattice-match induced topotactic transformation from TiO2(B) to anatase is the sole reason for the (001) facet exposure of anatase TiO2. The photocatalytic test for acetaldehyde decomposition shows that HTMS with anatase/TiO2(B) heterojunction and high-energy (001) facet exhibits superior photocatalytic efficiency compared with the relevant commercial product P25, which can be ascribed to the synergistic effect of large surface area, anatase/TiO2(B) heterojunction as well as high-energy facet exposure.

Coexistence of an anatase/TiO2(B) heterojunction and an exposed (001) facet in TiO2 nanoribbon photocatalysts synthesized via a fluorine-free route and topotactic transformation

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Changhua; Zhang, Xintong; Liu, Yichun

2014-04-01

In this work, we report a novel approach to fabricate hierarchical TiO2 microspheres (HTMS) assembled by ultrathin nanoribbons where an anatase/TiO2(B) heterojunction and high energy facet coexist. The as-adopted approach involves (1) nonaqueous solvothermal treatment of a mixture of tetrabutyl titanate and acetic acid and (2) topotactical transformation into HTMS via thermal annealing. By this approach, the TiO2(B) phase usually synthesized from an alkaline treatment route could be initially formed. Subsequently, phase transition from TiO2(B) to anatase TiO2 occurs upon thermal treatment. It is demonstrated that such phase transition is accompanied by crystallographic orientation along the c-axis of anatase and TiO2(B) crystals, resulting in not only a coherent interface between two phases but also oriented attachment of anatase mesocrystals along the [001] direction, and finally high-energy (001) facet exposure. Interestingly, this work provides an alternative fluorine-free route for the synthesis of TiO2 crystals with high-energy (001) facet exposure. The structural analysis reveals that lattice-match induced topotactic transformation from TiO2(B) to anatase is the sole reason for the (001) facet exposure of anatase TiO2. The photocatalytic test for acetaldehyde decomposition shows that HTMS with anatase/TiO2(B) heterojunction and high-energy (001) facet exhibits superior photocatalytic efficiency compared with the relevant commercial product P25, which can be ascribed to the synergistic effect of large surface area, anatase/TiO2(B) heterojunction as well as high-energy facet exposure.

Synthesis and Photocatalytic Activity of Anatase TiO2 Nanoparticles-coated Carbon Nanotubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xie Yi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract A simple and straightforward approach to prepare TiO2-coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs is presented. Anatase TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs with the average size ~8 nm were coated on CNTs from peroxo titanic acid (PTA precursor even at low temperature of 100 °C. We demonstrate the effects of CNTs/TiO2 molar ratio on the adsorption capability and photocatalytic efficiency under UV–visible irradiation. The samples showed not only good optical absorption in visible range, but also great adsorption capacity for methyl orange (MO dye molecules. These properties facilitated the great enhancement of photocatalytic activity of TiO2 NPs-coated CNTs photocatalysts. The TiO2 NPs-coated CNTs exhibited 2.45 times higher photocatalytic activity for MO degradation than that of pure TiO2.

Structural and electronic properties of Mg and Mg-Nb co-doped TiO2 (101) anatase surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasani, Alireza; Baktash, Ardeshir; Mirabbaszadeh, Kavoos; Khoshnevisan, Bahram

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Formation energy of Mg and Mg-Nb co-doped TiO_2 anatase surface (101) is studied. • Effect of Mg defect to the TiO_2 anatase (101) surface and bond length distribution of the surface is studied and it is shown that Mg defects tend to stay far from each other. • Effect of Mg and Nb to the bond length distribution of the surface studied and it is shown that these defects tend to stay close to each other. • Effects of Mg and Mg-Nb defects on DSSCs using TiO_2 anatase hosting these defects are studied. - Abstract: In this paper, by using density functional theory, Mg and Nb-Mg co-doping of TiO_2 anatase (101) surfaces are studied. By studying the formation energy of the defects and the bond length distribution of the surface, it is shown that Mg defects tend to stay as far as possible to induce least possible lattice distortion while Nb and Mg defects stay close to each other to cause less stress to the surface. By investigating band structure of the surface and changes stemmed from the defects, potential effects of Mg and Mg-Nb co-doping of TiO_2 surface on dye-sensitized solar cells are investigated. In this study, it is shown that the Nb-Mg co-doping could increase J_S_C of the surface while slightly decreasing V_O_C compared to Mg doped surface, which might result in an increase in efficiency of the DSSCs compared to Nb or Mg doped surfaces.

Hydrothermal synthesis of fluorinated anatase TiO_2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites and their photocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Lijun; Yang, Ye; Zhang, Ali; Wang, Min; Liu, Yongjun; Bian, Longchun; Jiang, Fengzhi; Pan, Xuejun

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • F–TiO_2–RGO nanocomposites were synthesized via hydrothermal method. • Presence of F ion prevents phase transformation from anatase to rutile. • The adsorbed F"− and RGO improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO_2 synergistically. • The F–TiO_2–RGO nanocomposites were applied to degrade bisphenol A. - Abstract: The surface fluorinated TiO_2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (denoted as F–TiO_2–RGO) were synthesized via hydrothermal method. The as-prepared materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectra (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The results showed that pure anatase TiO_2 particles were anchored on the surface of reduced graphene oxide. And the HF added during the preparation process can not only prevent phase transformation from anatase to rutile, but also the F"− ion adsorbed on the surface of TiO_2–RGO surface can enhance photocatalytic activity of F–TiO_2–RGO. The photocatalytic activities of F–TiO_2–RGO nanocomposites were evaluated by decomposing bisphenol A under UV light illumination. Under optimal degradation condition, the degradation rate constant of BPA over F–TiO_2–10RGO (0.01501 min"−"1) was 3.41 times than that over P25 (0.00440 min"−"1). The result indicated that the enhanced photocatalytic activity of F–TiO_2–10RGO was ascribed to the adsorbed F ion and RGO in F–TiO_2–RGO composite, which can reduce the recombination rate of the photo-generated electrons and holes synergistically.

Titanium Dioxide Particle Type and Concentration Influence the Inflammatory Response in Caco-2 Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Tada-Oikawa, Saeko; Ichihara, Gaku; Fukatsu, Hitomi; Shimanuki, Yuka; Tanaka, Natsuki; Watanabe, Eri; Suzuki, Yuka; Murakami, Masahiko; Izuoka, Kiyora; Chang, Jie; Wu, Wenting; Yamada, Yoshiji; Ichihara, Sahoko

2016-01-01

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are widely used in cosmetics, sunscreens, biomedicine, and food products. When used as a food additive, TiO2 nanoparticles are used in significant amounts as white food-coloring agents. However, the effects of TiO2 nanoparticles on the gastrointestinal tract remain unclear. The present study was designed to determine the effects of five TiO2 particles of different crystal structures and sizes in human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cells and THP-1 monocyte-derived macrophages. Twenty-four-hour exposure to anatase (primary particle size: 50 and 100 nm) and rutile (50 nm) TiO2 particles reduced cellular viability in a dose-dependent manner in THP-1 macrophages, but in not Caco-2 cells. However, 72-h exposure of Caco-2 cells to anatase (50 nm) TiO2 particles reduced cellular viability in a dose-dependent manner. The highest dose (50 µg/mL) of anatase (100 nm), rutile (50 nm), and P25 TiO2 particles also reduced cellular viability in Caco-2 cells. The production of reactive oxygen species tended to increase in both types of cells, irrespective of the type of TiO2 particle. Exposure of THP-1 macrophages to 50 µg/mL of anatase (50 nm) TiO2 particles increased interleukin (IL)-1β expression level, and exposure of Caco-2 cells to 50 µg/mL of anatase (50 nm) TiO2 particles also increased IL-8 expression. The results indicated that anatase TiO2 nanoparticles induced inflammatory responses compared with other TiO2 particles. Further studies are required to determine the in vivo relevance of these findings to avoid the hazards of ingested particles. PMID:27092499

Titanium Dioxide Particle Type and Concentration Influence the Inflammatory Response in Caco-2 Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeko Tada-Oikawa

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Titanium dioxide (TiO2 nanoparticles are widely used in cosmetics, sunscreens, biomedicine, and food products. When used as a food additive, TiO2 nanoparticles are used in significant amounts as white food-coloring agents. However, the effects of TiO2 nanoparticles on the gastrointestinal tract remain unclear. The present study was designed to determine the effects of five TiO2 particles of different crystal structures and sizes in human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2 cells and THP-1 monocyte-derived macrophages. Twenty-four-hour exposure to anatase (primary particle size: 50 and 100 nm and rutile (50 nm TiO2 particles reduced cellular viability in a dose-dependent manner in THP-1 macrophages, but in not Caco-2 cells. However, 72-h exposure of Caco-2 cells to anatase (50 nm TiO2 particles reduced cellular viability in a dose-dependent manner. The highest dose (50 µg/mL of anatase (100 nm, rutile (50 nm, and P25 TiO2 particles also reduced cellular viability in Caco-2 cells. The production of reactive oxygen species tended to increase in both types of cells, irrespective of the type of TiO2 particle. Exposure of THP-1 macrophages to 50 µg/mL of anatase (50 nm TiO2 particles increased interleukin (IL-1β expression level, and exposure of Caco-2 cells to 50 µg/mL of anatase (50 nm TiO2 particles also increased IL-8 expression. The results indicated that anatase TiO2 nanoparticles induced inflammatory responses compared with other TiO2 particles. Further studies are required to determine the in vivo relevance of these findings to avoid the hazards of ingested particles.

In-Flight Formation of Nano-Crystalline Titanium Dioxide Powder in a Plasma Jet and Its Characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ananthapadmanabhan, P. V.; Thiyagarajan, T. K.; Sreekumar, K. P.; Vijay, M.; Selvarajan, V.; Yu, Jiaguo; Liu, Shengwei

2010-01-01

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide powder was synthesized by in-flight oxidation of titanium dihydride (TiH 2 ) powder in a thermal plasma jet. TiH 2 powder was injected into the thermal plasma jet and allowed to react with oxygen injected downstream the jet. Characterization of the powder by various analytical tools indicated that the powder consisted of nano-sized titanium dioxide particles consisting predominantly of the anatase phase. It is suggested that the thermo-chemistry of the oxidation process contributes significantly to the formation of nano-sized titania. The large energy released during the oxidation process dissociates the TiO 2 particles into TiO (g) and titanium vapour, which recombine downstream with oxygen and form nano particles of TiO 2 .

Preparation and characterization of phase-pure anatase and rutile TiO2 powder by new chemistry route

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereira, E. A.; Montanhera, M.A.; Paula, F.R.; Spada, E.R.

2014-01-01

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is used in a wire range applications such as photocatalysis and sensor device. In this work is shown a new and effective method for the preparation of TiO 2 nanocrystalline in the crystallographic forms, anatase and rutile. The method involves dissolving the TiOSO 4 powder in H 2 O 2 solution and thermal treatment of amorphous precipitate. The technique of X-ray diffraction was used to follow the structure evolution of amorphous precipitate. Pure anatase structure and rutile are obtained at 600 deg C and 1000 deg C with a grain size estimated 24 and 55 nm respectively. TiO 2 nanoparticles is a promising alternative of the low cost whose potential for solar cells deserve a careful evaluation, especially in hybrid solar cells that employs TiO 2 as electron acceptor and as transport channels. (author)

Effect of oxygen vacancies on Li-storage of anatase TiO2 (001 ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2018-03-29

Mar 29, 2018 ... (a–d) Top and side views of the optimum structure of anatase TiO2 (001) surfaces adsorbing a single Li .... Rate capability is an important requirement for a promis- .... tific Research Foundation of Hunan Provincial Education.

Effect of anatase nanoparticles (TiO2) on parsley seed germination (Petroselinum crispum) in vitro.

Science.gov (United States)

Dehkourdi, Elahe Hashemi; Mosavi, Mousa

2013-11-01

Nano priming is a new method for the increase of seedling vigor and improvement of germination percentage and seedling growth. The experiments to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of nano-anatase on germination parameters of parsley as a completely randomized design with five replications were performed in a tissue culture laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. In addition, nano-anatase at four concentrations (10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/ml) was added to the Murashige and Skoog medium. At the end of the experiment, the percentage of germination, germination rate index, root and shoot length, fresh weight of seedlings, vigor index, and chlorophyll content were evaluated. The results showed that an increase in the concentration of nano-anatase caused a significant increase in the percentage of germination, germination rate index, root and shoot length, fresh weight, vigor index, and chlorophyll content of seedlings. The best concentration of nano-anatase was 30 mg/ml.

Growth and characterization of epitaxial anatase TiO2(001) on SrTiO3-buffered Si(001) using atomic layer deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDaniel, M.D.; Posadas, A.; Wang, T.; Demkov, A.A.; Ekerdt, J.G.

2012-01-01

Epitaxial anatase titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) films have been grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Si(001) substrates using a strontium titanate (STO) buffer layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to serve as a surface template. The growth of TiO 2 was achieved using titanium isopropoxide and water as the co-reactants at a substrate temperature of 225–250 °C. To preserve the quality of the MBE-grown STO, the samples were transferred in-situ from the MBE chamber to the ALD chamber. After ALD growth, the samples were annealed in-situ at 600 °C in vacuum (10 −7 Pa) for 1–2 h. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction was performed during the MBE growth of STO on Si(001), as well as after deposition of TiO 2 by ALD. The ALD films were shown to be highly ordered with the substrate. At least four unit cells of STO must be present to create a stable template on the Si(001) substrate for epitaxial anatase TiO 2 growth. X-ray diffraction revealed that the TiO 2 films were anatase with only the (004) reflection present at 2θ = 38.2°, indicating that the c-axis is slightly reduced from that of anatase powder (2θ = 37.9°). Anatase TiO 2 films up to 100 nm thick have been grown that remain highly ordered in the (001) direction on STO-buffered Si(001) substrates. - Highlights: ► Epitaxial anatase films are grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Si(001). ► Four unit cells of SrTiO 3 on silicon create a stable template for ALD. ► TiO 2 thin films have a compressed c-axis and an expanded a-axis. ► Up to 100 nm thick TiO 2 films remain highly ordered in the (001) direction.

Study on preparation of SnO2-TiO2/Nano-graphite composite anode and electro-catalytic degradation of ceftriaxone sodium.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Xiaolei; Wan, Jiafeng; Yu, Xiujuan; Lin, Yuhui

2016-12-01

In order to improve the electro-catalytic activity and catalytic reaction rate of graphite-like material, Tin dioxide-Titanium dioxide/Nano-graphite (SnO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G) composite was synthesized by a sol-gel method and SnO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G electrode was prepared in hot-press approach. The composite was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared, Raman, N 2 adsorption-desorption, scanning electrons microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The electrochemical performance of the SnO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G anode electrode was investigated via cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electro-catalytic performance was evaluated by the degradation of ceftriaxone sodium and the yield of ·OH radicals in the reaction system. The results demonstrated that TiO 2 , SnO 2 and Nano-G were composited successfully, and TiO 2 and SnO 2 particles dispersed on the surface and interlamination of the Nano-G uniformly. The specific surface area of SnO 2 modified anode was higher than that of TiO 2 /Nano-G anode and the degradation rate of ceftriaxone sodium within 120 min on SnO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G electrode was 98.7% at applied bias of 2.0 V. The highly efficient electro-chemical property of SnO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G electrode was attributed to the admirable conductive property of the Nano-G and SnO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G electrode. Moreover, the contribution of reactive species ·OH was detected, indicating the considerable electro-catalytic activity of SnO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G electrode. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adsorption and oxidation of oxalic acid on anatase TiO2 (001) surface: A density functional theory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Tao; Wang, Yun; Zhang, Haimin; Liu, Porun; Zhao, Huijun

2015-09-15

Anatase TiO2 (001) surfaces have attracted great interest for photo-degradation of organic species recently due to their high reactivity. In this work, adsorption properties and oxidation mechanisms of oxalic acid on the anatase TiO2 (001) surface have been theoretically investigated using the first-principles density functional theory. Various possible adsorption configurations are considered by diversifying the connectivity of carboxylic groups with the surface. It is found that the adsorption of oxalic acid on the anatase (001) surface prefer the dissociative states. A novel double-bidentate configuration has been found due to the structural match between oxalic acid and the (001) surface. More charge is transferred from the adsorbed oxalic acid to the surface with the double-bidentate configuration when comparing with other adsorption structures. Thus, there is a positive correlation relationship between the transferred charge amount and the interfacial bond numbers when oxalic acid adsorbs on the anatase TiO2 (001) surface. The adsorption energies with dispersion corrections have demonstrated that the van der Waals interactions play an important role in the adsorption, especially when adsorbates are close to the surface. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Density functional theory study of atomic and electronic properties of defects in reduced anatase TiO2 nanocrystals

Science.gov (United States)

Morita, Kazuki; Yasuoka, Kenji

2018-03-01

Anatase TiO2 nanocrystals have received considerable attention owing to their promising applications in photocatalysis, photovoltaics, and fuel cells. Although experimental evidence has shown that the performance of nanocrystals can be significantly improved through reduction, the mechanistic basis of this enhancement remains unclear. To shed a light on the chemistry of reduced anatase TiO2 nanocrystals, density functional theory were used to investigate the properties of defects and excess electrons. We demonstrated that oxygen vacancies are stable both on the surface and at the sub-surface of the nanocrystal, while titanium interstitials prefer sub-surface sites. Different defect locations possessed different excess electron structures, which contributed to deep and shallow states in the band gap of the nanocrystals. Furthermore, valence band tailing was observed, resulting in band gap narrowing. The theoretical results presented here deepen our understanding, and show the potential of defects to considerably change the macroscopic properties of anatase TiO2 nanocrystals.

Density functional theory study of atomic and electronic properties of defects in reduced anatase TiO2 nanocrystals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazuki Morita

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Anatase TiO2 nanocrystals have received considerable attention owing to their promising applications in photocatalysis, photovoltaics, and fuel cells. Although experimental evidence has shown that the performance of nanocrystals can be significantly improved through reduction, the mechanistic basis of this enhancement remains unclear. To shed a light on the chemistry of reduced anatase TiO2 nanocrystals, density functional theory were used to investigate the properties of defects and excess electrons. We demonstrated that oxygen vacancies are stable both on the surface and at the sub-surface of the nanocrystal, while titanium interstitials prefer sub-surface sites. Different defect locations possessed different excess electron structures, which contributed to deep and shallow states in the band gap of the nanocrystals. Furthermore, valence band tailing was observed, resulting in band gap narrowing. The theoretical results presented here deepen our understanding, and show the potential of defects to considerably change the macroscopic properties of anatase TiO2 nanocrystals.

Photocatalytic characteristics of single phase Fe-doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles sensitized with vitamin B12

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gharagozlou, Mehrnaz; Bayati, R.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Anatase TiO 2 /B 12 hybrid nanostructured catalyst was successfully synthesized by sol–gel technique. • The nanoparticle catalyst was doped with iron at several concentrations. • Nanoparticles were characterized in detail by XRD, Raman, TEM, EDS, and spectroscopy techniques. • The formation mechanism and role of point defects on photocatalytic properties were discussed. • A structure-property-processing correlation was established. - Abstract: We report a processing-structure-property correlation in B 12 -anatase titania hybrid catalysts doped with several concentrations of iron. Our results clearly show that low-level iron doping alters structure, defect content, and photocatalytic characteristics of TiO 2 . XRD and Raman studies revealed formation of a single-phase anatase TiO 2 where no iron based segregation in particular iron oxide, was detected. FT-IR spectra clearly confirmed sensitization of TiO 2 nanoparticles with vitamin B 12 . TEM micrographs and diffraction patterns confirmed crystallization of anatase nanoparticles with a radius of 15–20 nm. Both XRD and Raman signals showed a peak shift and a peak broadening which are surmised to originate from creation of point defects, namely oxygen vacancy and titanium interstitial. The doped samples revealed a narrower band gap as compared to undoped samples. Photocatalytic activity of the samples was assessed through measuring the decomposition rate of rhodamine B. It was found that sensitization with vitamin B 12 and Fe-doping significantly enhances the photocatalytic efficiency of the anatase nanoparticles. We also showed that there is an optimum Fe-doping level where the maximum photocatalytic activity is achieved. The boost of photocatalytic activity was qualitatively understood to originate from a more effective use of the light photons, formation of point defects, which enhance the charge separation, higher carrier mobility

Thermal catalytic oxidation of octachloronaphthalene over anatase TiO2 nanomaterial and its hypothesized mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Guijin; Li, Qianqian; Lu, Huijie; Zhang, Lixia; Huang, Linyan; Yan, Li; Zheng, Minghui

2015-12-01

As an environmentally-green technology, thermal catalytic oxidation of octachloronaphthalene (CN-75) over anatase TiO2 nanomaterials was investigated at 300 °C. A wide range of oxidation intermediates, which were investigated using various techniques, could be of three types: naphthalene-ring, single-benzene-ring, and completely ring-opened products. Reactive oxygen species on anatase TiO2 surface, such as O2-• and O2-, contributed to oxidative degradation. Based on these findings, a novel oxidation degradation mechanism was proposed. The reaction at (101) surface of anatase TiO2 was used as a model. The naphthalene-ring oxidative products with chloronaphthols and hydroxyl-pentachloronaphthalene-dione, could be formed via attacking the carbon of naphthalene ring at one or more positions by nucleophilic O2-. Lateral cleavage of the naphthalene ring at different C1-C10 and C4-C9, C1-C2 and C4-C9, C1-C2 or and C3-C4 bond positions by electrophilic O2-• could occur. This will lead to the formation of tetrachlorophenol, tetrachloro-benzoic acid, tetrachloro-phthalaldehyde, and tetrachloro-acrolein-benzoic acid, partially with further transformation into tetrachlorobenzene-dihydrodiol and tetrachloro-salicylic acid. Unexpectedly, the symmetric half section of CN-75 could be completely remained with generating the intricate oxidative intermediates characteristically containing tetrachlorobenzene structure. Complete cleavage of naphthalene ring could produce the ring-opened products, such as formic and acetic acids.

Low-energy ion irradiation in HiPIMS to enable anatase TiO2 selective growth

Science.gov (United States)

Cemin, Felipe; Tsukamoto, Makoto; Keraudy, Julien; Antunes, Vinícius Gabriel; Helmersson, Ulf; Alvarez, Fernando; Minea, Tiberiu; Lundin, Daniel

2018-06-01

High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) has already demonstrated great potential for synthesizing the high-energy crystalline phase of titanium dioxide (rutile TiO2) due to large quantities of highly energetic ions present in the discharge. In this work, it is shown that the metastable anatase phase can also be obtained by HiPIMS. The required deposition conditions have been identified by systematically studying the phase formation, microstructure and chemical composition as a function of mode of target operation as well as of substrate temperature, working pressure, and peak current density. It is found that films deposited in the metal and transition modes are predominantly amorphous and contain substoichiometric TiO x compounds, while in compound mode they are well-crystallized and present only O2‑ ions bound to Ti4+, i.e. pure TiO2. Anatase TiO2 films are obtained for working pressures between 1 and 2 Pa, a peak current density of ~1 A cm‑2 and deposition temperatures lower than 300 °C. Rutile is favored at lower pressures (2 A cm‑2), while amorphous films are obtained at higher pressures (5 Pa). Microstructural characterization of selected films is also presented.

Dielectric response and room temperature ferromagnetism in Cr doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles

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Naseem, Swaleha; Khan, Wasi; Khan, Shakeel; Husain, Shahid; Ahmad, Abid

2018-02-01

In the present work, nanocrystalline samples of Ti1-xCrxO2 (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08) were synthesized in anatase phase through simple and cost effective acid modified sol gel method. The influence of Cr doping on thermal, microstructural, electrical and magnetic properties was investigated in TiO2 host matrix. The surface morphology has revealed less agglomeration and considerable reduction in particle size in case of Cr doped TiO2 as compared to undoped TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs). Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) established high purity, appropriate stoichiometry and oxidation states of the compositions. The dielectric properties of the nanoparticles were altered by the doping concentration, applied frequency as well as temperature variation. The variation in dielectric constant (ε‧), dielectric loss (δ) and ac conductivity as a function of frequency and temperature at different doping concentration of Cr were interpreted in the light of Maxwell Wagner theory, space charge polarization mechanism and drift mobility of charge carriers. Both undoped and Cr doped TiO2 samples exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) that remarkably influenced by means of the Cr content. The significant enhancement in the magnetization was observed at 4% Cr doping. However, decrease in magnetization for higher doping signify antiferromagnetic interactions between Cr ions or superexchange mechanism. These results reveal that the oxygen vacancies play a crucial role to initiate the RTFM. Therefore, the present investigation suggests the potential applications of Cr doped TiO2 nanoparticles for spintronics application.

Carbon coated anatase TiO2 mesocrystals enabling ultrastable and robust sodium storage

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Zhang, Weifeng; Lan, Tongbin; Ding, Tianli; Wu, Nae-Lih; Wei, Mingdeng

2017-08-01

Nanoporous anatase TiO2 mesocrystals with tunable architectures and crystalline phases were successfully fabricated in the presence of the butyl oleate and oleylamine. Especially, the introduced surfactants served as a carbon source, bring a uniform carbon layer (about 2-8 nm) for heightening the electronic conductivity. The carbon coated TiO2 mesocrystals assembled from crystalline tiny subunits have more space sites for sodium-ion storage. When the material was applied as an electrode material in rechargeable sodium-ion batteries, it exhibited a superior capacity of about 90 mA h g-1 at 20 C (1 C = 168 mA g-1) and a highly reversible capacity for 5000 cycles, which is the longest cycle life reported for sodium storage in TiO2 electrodes.

Photocatalytic activity of self-assembled porous TiO2 nano-columns array fabricated by oblique angle sputter deposition

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Shi, Pengjun; Li, Xibo; Zhang, Qiuju; Yi, Zao; Luo, Jiangshan

2018-04-01

A well-separated and oriented TiO2 nano-columns arrays with porous structure were fabricated by the oblique angle sputter deposition technique and subsequently annealing at 450 °C in Ar/O2 mixed atmosphere. The deposited substrate was firstly modified by a template of self-assembled close-packed arrays of 500 nm-diameter silica (SiO2) spheres. Scanning electronic microscopic (SEM) images show that the porous columnar nanostructure is formed as a result of the geometric shadowing effect and surface diffusion of the adatoms in oblique angle deposition (OAD). X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements reveal that the physically OAD film with annealing treatment are generally mixed phase of rutile and anatase TiO2 polymorphic forms. The morphology induced absorbance and band gap tuning by different substrates was demonstrated by the UV–vis spectroscopy. The well-separated one-dimensional (1D) nano-columns array with specific large porous surface area is beneficial for charge separation in photocatalytic degradation. Compared with compact thin film, such self-assembled porous TiO2 nano-columns array fabricated by oblique angle sputter deposition performed an enhanced visible light induced photocatalytic activity by decomposing methyl orange (MO) solution. The well-designed periodic array-structured porous TiO2 films by using modified patterned substrates has been demonstrated significantly increased absorption edge in the UV-visible light region with a narrower optical band gap, which are expected to be favorable for application in photovoltaic, lithium-ion insertion and photocatalytic, etc.

Hierarchical (0 0 1) facet anatase/rutile TiO2 heterojunction photoanode with enhanced photoelectrocatalytic performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian, Hongyi; Zhao, Guohua; Zhang, Ya-nan; Wang, Yanbin; Cao, Tongcheng

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► (0 0 1) facet TiO 2 photoanode with large surface area is reported for the first time. ► Ordered heterojunction further improves light absorption in (0 0 1) facet TiO 2 system. ► (0 0 1) facet TiO 2 photoanode possesses promoted photoelectrocatalytic performance. ► Photoelectrical enhancement mechanism is clarified by electrochemical methods. ► Photogenerated carrier and lifetime are remarkably enhanced by ingenious design. -- Abstract: A hierarchical heterojunction TiO 2 photoanode with large surface/body ratio is reported to exhibit high oxidation activity due to the constructing of anatase TiO 2 with exposed (0 0 1) facets. The mixed-phase photoanode is fabricated through surfactant-assisted anchoring ultrathin anatase nanosheets on vertically ordered rutile nanorod arrays. This cactaceae-like TiO 2 possesses high-exposed (0 0 1) facets outer layer, large specific surface area (375 m 2 g −1 ), efficient photo-to-current conversion (8.2%) and excellent photocatalytic ability to degrade bisphenol A. The greatly promoted photoelectric and photocatalytic performance results from the synergetic effects of the architecture design of high-active (0 0 1) facets and hierarchical heterojunctions. The mechanism analysis reveals that the remarkable increase of photogenerated carrier concentration (2.40 × 10 22 cm −3 ) improves photocatalytic activity, by virtue of constructing staggered energy levels, suppressing the recombination of electrons and holes, and extending the electron lifetime (133 ms)

Three-dimensional assembly structure of anatase TiO2 hollow microspheres with enhanced photocatalytic performance

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Tang, Yihao; Zhan, Shuai; Wang, Li; Zhang, Bin; Ding, Minghui

The pure anatase TiO2 hollow microspheres are synthesized by a one-step template-free hydrothermal route. By defining temperature and time limits, we produce TiO2 hollow microspheres with a fluoride-mediated self-transformation. The surface morphology of TiO2 hollow microspheres was studied by SEM. The hollow microspheres have diameters of about 800 nm and are remarkably uniform. The UV-light photocatalytic activity and the stability/multifunction of TiO2 hollow microspheres structure were evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. The excellent photocatalytic activity is attributed to large specific surface area, more active sites, unique hollow structures, and improved light scattering.

Low-Temperature Synthesis of Anatase TiO2 Nanoparticles with Tunable Surface Charges for Enhancing Photocatalytic Activity

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Li, Ye; Qin, Zhenping; Guo, Hongxia; Yang, Hanxiao; Zhang, Guojun; Ji, Shulan; Zeng, Tingying

2014-01-01

In this work, the positively or negatively charged anatase TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized via a low temperature precipitation-peptization process (LTPPP) in the presence of poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) and poly(sodium4- styrenesulfonate) (PSS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) confirmed the anatase crystalline phase. The charges of the prepared TiO2, PEI-TiO2 and PSS-TiO2 nanoparticles were investigated by zeta potentials. The results showed that the zeta potentials of PEI-TiO2 nanoparticles can be tuned from +39.47 mV to +95.46 mV, and that of PSS-TiO2 nanoparticles can be adjusted from −56.63 mV to −119.32 mV. In comparison with TiO2, PSS-TiO2 exhibited dramatic adsorption and degradation of dye molecules, while the PEI modified TiO2 nanoparticles showed lower photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic performances of these charged nanoparticles were elucidated by the results of UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, which indicated that the PSS-TiO2 nanoparticles showed a lower recombination rate of electron-hole pairs than TiO2 and PEI-TiO2. PMID:25506839

Optimized monolayer grafting of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane onto amorphous, anatase and rutile TiO 2

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Song, Yan-Yan; Hildebrand, Helga; Schmuki, Patrik

2010-02-01

Experimental conditions were studied for optimized attachment of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) onto amorphous, anatase and rutile titanium dioxide (TiO 2) surfaces. The attachment process and extent was characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In particular, the effect of attachment time, silane concentration, reaction temperature and the TiO 2 crystalline structure on the growth kinetics of the silane layers was studied. The measurements reveal that typically monolayers are more dense on amorphous than on crystalline TiO 2. The results show that critical experimental conditions exist where APTES attachment to the TiO 2 surface changes from a monolayer to a multilayer growth mode. The obtained results and parameters to produce optimized APTES layers are of a high practical relevance as APTES attachment often constitutes the initial step for organic modification of TiO 2 surface with biorelevant molecules such as proteins, enzymes or growth factors.

Degradation of the ammonia wastewater in aqueous medium with ozone in combination with mesoporous TiO2 catalytic

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Liu, Zhiwu; Qiu, Jianping; Zheng, Chaocan; Li, Liqing

2017-03-01

TiO2 mesoporous nanomaterials are now widely used in catalytic ozone technology. In this paper, the market P25 as precursor hydrothermal method to prepare TiO2 mesoporous materials, ozone catalyst material characterization by transmission electron microscopy, surface area analyzers, and X-ray diffraction technique and found that nanotubes, nanosheets, nanorods through characterization results, nano-particles of different morphology and anatase and rutile proportion of the ozone catalytic material can be controlled by the calcination temperature and the temperature of hot water to give, and with the hot water temperature and calcination temperature, the catalyst becomes small aperture size larger catalyst crystalline phase from anatase to rutile gradually shift. Catalytic materials have been prepared by the Joint ozone degradation of ammonia wastewater to evaluate mesoporous TiO2 nanomaterials ozone catalytic performance, the results showed that: ammonia wastewater removal efficiency of various catalytic materials relatively separate ozone and markets P25 effects are significantly improved, and TiO2 nanotubes cooperate with ozone degradation ammonia wastewater highest efficiency, in addition, rutile TiO2 catalysts, the more the better the performance of their ozone catalysis.

MD Simulation on Collision Behavior Between Nano-Scale TiO₂ Particles During Vacuum Cold Spraying.

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Yao, Hai-Long; Yang, Guan-Jun; Li, Chang-Jiu

2018-04-01

Particle collision behavior influences significantly inter-nano particle bonding formation during the nano-ceramic coating deposition by vacuum cold spraying (or aerosol deposition method). In order to illuminate the collision behavior between nano-scale ceramic particles, molecular dynamic simulation was applied to explore impact process between nano-scale TiO2 particles through controlling impact velocities. Results show that the recoil efficiency of the nano-scale TiO2 particle is decreased with the increase of the impact velocity. Nano-scale TiO2 particle exhibits localized plastic deformation during collision at low velocities, while it is intensively deformed by collision at high velocities. This intensive deformation promotes the nano-particle adhesion rather than rebounding off. A relationship between the adhesion energy and the rebound energy is established for the bonding formation of the nano-scale TiO2 particle. The adhesion energy required to the bonding formation between nano-scale ceramic particles can be produced by high velocity collision.

Investigation on the photocatalytic degradation of pyrene on soil surfaces using nanometer anatase TiO2 under UV irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Dianbo; Li Peijun; Li Xiaojun; Zhao Qing; Zhang Yinqiu; Jia Chunyun; Li Peng

2010-01-01

Photocatalytic degradation of pyrene on soil surfaces was investigated in the presence of nanometer anatase TiO 2 under a variety of conditions. After being spiked with pyrene, soil samples loaded with different amounts of TiO 2 (0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%, w/w) were exposed to UV irradiation for 25 h. The results indicated that the photocatalytic degradation of pyrene followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. TiO 2 accelerated the degradation of pyrene generally as indicated by the half-life reduction from 45.90 to 31.36 h, corresponding to the TiO 2 amounts from 0% to 4%, respectively. The effects of H 2 O 2 , light intensity and humic acids on the degradation of pyrene were also investigated. The degradation of pyrene increased along with increasing the concentration of H 2 O 2 , light intensity and the concentration of humic acids. All results indicated that the photocatalytic method in the presence of nanometer anatase TiO 2 was an advisable choice for the treatments of PAHs polluted soil in the future.

Nano-structure TiO2 film coating on 316L stainless steel via sol-gel technique for blood compatibility improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammadreza Foruzanmehr

2014-04-01

Full Text Available   Objective(s: Titanium oxides are known to be appropriate hemocompatible materials which are suggested as coatings for blood-contacting devices. Little is known about the influence of nanometric crystal structure, layer thickness, and semiconducting characteristics of TiO2 on blood hemostasis.   Materials and Methods: Having used sol-gel dip coating method in this study, TiO2 thin films were deposited on nano-scale electro-polished stainless steel 316L with 1 to 5 nano-sized layers. Surface morphology and structure of the film were studied with X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. Blood compatibility was also determined by measuring the platelet activation (CD62P expression, platelet adhesion (Scanning Electron Microscopy, and the blood clotting time on these samples. Results: The films were compact and smooth and existed mainly in the form of anatase. By increasing the number of TiO2 thin layer, clotting time greatly extended, and the population of activated platelet and P-selectine expression changed according to the surface characteristics of each layer. Conclusion: The findings revealed that stainless steel 316L coated with nano-structured TiO2 layer improved blood compatibility, in terms of both blood platelet activity and coagulation cascade, which can decrease the thrombogenicity of blood contacting devices which were made from stainless steel.

Modulation of physiological responses with TiO2 nano-particle in Azolla pinnata R.Br. under 2,4-D toxicity.

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De, Arnab Kumar; Ghosh, Arijit; Debnath, Subhas Chandra; Sarkar, Bipul; Saha, Indraneel; Adak, Malay Kumar

2018-06-05

The present work is emphasised with the herbicidal tolerance of Azolla pinnata R.Br. and its modulation with TiO 2 nano-particle. Both carbohydrate and nitrogen metabolism were effected with 2,4-D as herbicide and in few cases TiO 2 -NP had recovered few detrimental effects. From the nutrient status in Azolla it recorded the recovery of nitrogen as well as potassium by TiO 2 -NP but not in case of phosphorus. However, a conversion of nitrate to ammonium was more induced by TiO 2 -NP under herbicidal toxicity. Similar results were obtained for inter-conversion of amino acid-nitrate pool, but no changes with glutamine synthase activity with TiO 2 -NP. Initially, the effects of 2,4-D was monitored with changes of chlorophyll content but had not been recovered with nanoparticle. Photosynthetic reserves expressed as both total and reducing sugar were insensitive to TiO 2 -NP interference but activity of soluble and wall bound invertase was in reverse trend as compared to control. The 2,4-D mediated changes of redox and its oxidative stress was ameliorated in plants with over expressed ADH activity. As a whole the Azolla bio system with TiO 2 supplementation may be useful in sustenance against 2,4-D toxicity through recovery of nitrogen metabolism. Thus, Azolla-TiO 2 -NP bio system would be realised to monitor the herbicidal toxicity in soil and its possible bioremediation.

Coupling of Nanocrystalline Anatase TiO2 to Porous Nanosized LaFeO3 for Efficient Visible-Light Photocatalytic Degradation of Pollutants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Humayun

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this work we have successfully fabricated nanocrystalline anatase TiO2/perovskite-type porous nanosized LaFeO3 (T/P-LFO nanocomposites using a simple wet chemical method. It is clearly demonstrated by means of atmosphere-controlled steady-state surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS responses, photoluminescence spectra, and fluorescence spectra related to the formed OH− radical amount that the photogenerated charge carriers in the resultant T/P-LFO nanocomposites with a proper mole ratio percentage of TiO2 display much higher separation in comparison to the P-LFO alone. This is highly responsible for the improved visible-light activities of T/P-LFO nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of gas-phase acetaldehyde and liquid-phase phenol. This work will provide a feasible route to synthesize visible-light responsive nano-photocatalysts for efficient solar energy utilization.

Silicon impurity release and surface transformation of TiO2 anatase and rutile nanoparticles in water environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Xuyang; Chen, Gexin; Erwin, Justin G.; Su, Chunming

2014-01-01

Surface transformation can affect the stability, reactivity, and toxicity of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles (NPs) in water environments. Herein, we investigated the release kinetics of Si impurity frequently introduced during NP synthesis and the resulting effect on TiO 2 NP transformation in aqueous solutions. The release of Si increased from 2 h to 19 d at three pHs with the order: pH 11.2 ≥ pH 2.4 > pH 8.2. The Si release process followed parabolic kinetics which is similar to diffusion controlled dissolution of minerals, and the release magnitude followed the order: 10 × 40 nm rutile > 50 nm anatase > 30 × 40 nm rutile. FTIR data indicated preferential dissolving of less polymerized Si species on NP surface. Surface potential and particle size of TiO 2 NPs remained almost constant during the 42-day monitoring, implying the unaffected stability and transport of these NPs by the incongruent dissolution of impurities. Highlights: • Si impurity may affect the colloid stability, reactivity, and toxicity of TiO 2 NPs. • Si impurity gradually released during 2 h – 19 d following a parabolic curve. • FTIR data indicated less polymerized Si species dissolved from TiO 2 NPs. • Surface potential and size of TiO 2 remained constant during impurity release. • NP production needs to consider ion release and environmental transformation. -- The incongruent dissolution of surface charge determining Si impurity did not significantly affect the surface potential and aggregation status of TiO 2 nanoparticles in aqueous solutions

Surface preparation of TiO2 anatase (101): Pitfalls and how to avoid them

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Setvín, M.; Daniel, B.; Mansfeldová, Věra; Kavan, Ladislav; Scheiber, P.; Fidler, M.; Schmid, M.; Diebold, U.

2014-01-01

Roč. 626, AUG 2014 (2014), s. 61-67 ISSN 0039-6028 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-07724S Grant - others: COST (XE) CM1104 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : TiO2 * anatase * sample preparation Subject RIV: CG - Electrochemistry Impact factor: 1.925, year: 2014

N-doped hollow urchin-like anatase TiO2@C composite as a novel anode for Li-ion batteries

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Yalan; Wang, Shengbin; Fang, Baizeng; Song, Ge; Wilkinson, David P.; Zhang, Shichao

2018-05-01

N-doped hollow urchin-like anatase TiO2 spheres (HUTSs) with carbon coating (HUTS@C) are prepared through a facile and scalable hydrothermal reaction followed by coating of polypyrrole and carbonization. The HUTS is composed of radially grown anatase nanorods and possesses an enhanced percentage of exposed {001} facets compared with P25 TiO2 nanoparticles. After the carbon coating, the HUTS@C retains the hollow nanostructure although covered with an N-doped carbon layer. As an anode for Li-ion batteries, the HUTS@C delivers a higher capacity of 165.1 mAh g-1 at 1C after 200 cycles and better rate capability (111.7 mAh g-1 at 10C) than the HUTS. Further electrochemical studies reveal that the HUTS@C has a better electrochemical reversibility, lower charge-transfer resistance, and higher Li-ion diffusion coefficient due to its unique nanosctructure including the hollow core, anatase phase of TiO2 microspheres with high exposed {001} facets and the N-doped carbon layer, which facilitates mass transport and enhances electrical conductivity.

Modification of the surface energy in isovalent nano-oxides prepared by chemical synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miagava, J.; Gouvea, D.

2011-01-01

The phase stability of the nano-oxides depends on the bulk energy but it also depends on the surface energy. The difference of surface energy of the rutile and anatase phases result in a change of phase stability: TiO_2 without additives is stable as anatase when particles have nanometric size and a high specific surface area whereas rutile is stable when particles are larger. But this stability can be modified through the use of additives. Different studies demonstrate that additives segregate on the particle surface modifying the surface energy. In this work (1-X)TiO_2-XSnO_2 powders were synthesized by the polymeric precursor method with concentrations of 0 ≤ X ≤ 1. The specific surface area measurements demonstrate that the modification of the composition change the specific surface areas and it reaches a maximum at X = 0.005. The Raman spectroscopy demonstrates that a modification on the stability of the TiO_2 polymorphs occurs and the phase rutile is stabilized when SnO_2 is added to the nano powders.(author)

Substitutional Carbon-Modified Anatase TiO2 Decahedral Plates Directly Derived from Titanium Oxalate Crystals via Topotactic Transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Ping; Wu, Tingting; Wen, Lei; Tan, Jun; Yang, Yongqiang; Zheng, Shijian; Liang, Yan; Li, Feng; Irvine, John Ts; Liu, Gang; Ma, Xiuliang; Cheng, Hui-Ming

2018-03-30

Changing the composition and/or structure of some metal oxides at the atomic level can significantly improve their performance in different applications. Although many strategies have been developed, the introduction of heteroatoms, particularly anions to the internal part of metal oxide particles, is still not adequate. Here, an effective strategy is demonstrated for directly preparing polycrystalline decahedral plates of substitutional carbon-doped anatase TiO 2 from titanium (IV) oxalate by a thermally induced topotactic transition in an inert atmosphere. Because of the carbon concentration gradient introduced in side of the plates, the carbon-doped TiO 2 (TiO 2- x C x ) shows an increased visible light absorption and a two orders of magnitude higher electrical conductivity than pure TiO 2 . Consequently, it can be used as a photocatalyst and an active material for lithium storage and shows much superior activity in generating hydroxyl radicals under visible light and greatly increased electrical-specific capacity at high charge-discharge rates. The strategy developed could also be applicable to the atomic-scale modification of other metal oxides. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Polyaniline nanowires on TiO2 nano/microfiber hierarchical nano/microstructures: Preparation and their photocatalytic properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Qiaozhen; Wang Mang; Chen Hongzheng; Dai Zhengwei

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We fabricate PANI nanowire-on-TiO 2 nano/microfiber hierarchical nano/microstructure composite fiber films by electrospinning, calcinations and in situ polymerization. → PANI/TiO 2 composite fiber film exhibits high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of dye MB. → The photocatalytic activity and reusability of PANI/TiO 2 composite fiber film were lower than those of pure TiO 2 fiber film. - Abstract: TiO 2 /PANI composite fiber films were fabricated by electrospinning, calcinations and in situ polymerization. The morphology and structure of the resulting composites were analyzed by scanning electron micrograph, transmission electron micrograph, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. It was found that this composite fiber film has a PANI nanowire-on-TiO 2 nano/microfiber hierarchical nano/microstructure. The surface morphology of this hierarchical nano/microstructure was related to the structure of TiO 2 nano/microfiber film, the time and temperature of in situ polymerization. Its photocatalytic property on methylene blue (MB) was studied, and the results showed that TiO 2 /PANI composite fiber film with this hierarchical nano/microstructure exhibited high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of MB under natural light. But both its photocatalytic activity and reusability were lower than those of pure TiO 2 fiber film. To improve the stability and reusability of TiO 2 /PANI composite fiber film, a direct chemical bonding of PANI chains onto TiO 2 surface, such as, the surface-initiated graft polymerization, is a useful method.

Controlled formation of anatase and rutile TiO2 thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

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Damon Rafieian

2015-09-01

Full Text Available We discuss the formation of TiO2 thin films via DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The oxygen concentration during sputtering proved to be a crucial parameter with respect to the final film structure and properties. The initial deposition provided amorphous films that crystallise upon annealing to anatase or rutile, depending on the initial sputtering conditions. Substoichiometric films (TiOx<2, obtained by sputtering at relatively low oxygen concentration, formed rutile upon annealing in air, whereas stoichiometric films formed anatase. This route therefore presents a formation route for rutile films via lower (<500 °C temperature pathways. The dynamics of the annealing process were followed by in situ ellipsometry, showing the optical properties transformation. The final crystal structures were identified by XRD. The anatase film obtained by this deposition method displayed high carriers mobility as measured by time-resolved microwave conductance. This also confirms the high photocatalytic activity of the anatase films.

Preparation of RuO2-TiO2/Nano-graphite composite anode for electrochemical degradation of ceftriaxone sodium.

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Li, Dong; Guo, Xiaolei; Song, Haoran; Sun, Tianyi; Wan, Jiafeng

2018-06-05

Graphite-like material is widely used for preparing various electrodes for wastewater treatment. To enhance the electrochemical degradation efficiency of Nano-graphite (Nano-G) anode, RuO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G composite anode was prepared through the sol-gel method and hot-press technology. RuO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and N 2 adsorption-desorption. Results showed that RuO 2 , TiO 2 and Nano-G were composited successfully, and RuO 2 and TiO 2 nanoparticles were distributed uniformly on the surface of Nano-G sheet. Specific surface area of RuO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G composite was higher than that of TiO 2 /Nano-G composite and Nano-G. Electrochemical performances of RuO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G anode were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. RuO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G anode was applied to electrochemical degradation of ceftriaxone. The generation of hydroxyl radical (OH) was measured. Results demonstrated that RuO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G anode displayed enhanced electrochemical degradation efficiency towards ceftriaxone and yield of OH, which is derived from the synergetic effect between RuO 2 , TiO 2 and Nano-G, which enhance the specific surface area, improve the electrochemical oxidation activity and lower the charge transfer resistance. Besides, the possible degradation intermediates and pathways of ceftriaxone sodium were identified. This study may provide a viable and promising prospect for RuO 2 -TiO 2 /Nano-G anode towards effective electrochemical degradation of antibiotics from wastewater. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mesoporous anatase TiO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites: A simple template-free synthesis and their high photocatalytic performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Qi; Zhong, Yong-Hui; Chen, Xing; Huang, Xing-Jiu; Wu, Yu-Cheng

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Mesoporous TiO 2 nanoparticles with anatase phase were assembled on reduced graphene oxide via a template-free one-step hydrothermal method. • The TiO 2 /rGO nanocomposites have better adsorption capacity and photocatalytic degradation efficiency for dyes removal. • Improved dye adsorption and photogenerated charge separation are responsible for enhanced activity. - Abstract: Mesoporous anatase phase TiO 2 was assembled on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using a template-free one-step hydrothermal process. The nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area. Morphology of TiO 2 was related to the content of graphene oxide. TiO 2 /rGO nanocomposites exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for the photo-degradation of methyl orange. The degradation rate was 4.5 times greater than that of pure TiO 2 nanoparticles. This difference was attributed to the thin two-dimensional graphene sheet. The graphene sheet had a large surface area, high adsorption capacity, and acted as a good electron acceptor for the transfer of photo-generated electrons from the conduction band of TiO 2 . The enhanced surface adsorption characteristics and excellent charge transport separation were independent properties of the photocatalytic degradation process

Effects of exposure to nano and bulk sized TiO2 and CuO in Lemna minor.

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Dolenc Koce, Jasna

2017-10-01

Nanoparticles of TiO 2 and CuO are among most commonly used nanoparticles, and elevated concentrations of them are expected to be found in all environments, including aquatic. A standard growth inhibition test ISO/CD 20079 was used to determine the toxicity of nano sized and larger micro sized (bulk) particles in the concentrations of 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 μM CuO and TiO 2 on common duckweed (Lemna minor L.). Both nano and bulk CuO particles caused changes in the structure and function of treated plants. The number of fronds and colonies decreased by as much as 78%, the length of roots and fronds decreased by 99% and 14%, respectively. Furthermore, photochemical efficiency was reduced by up to 35%, and the activities of antioxidative enzymes guaiacol peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase increased by more than 240%. The altered physiological state of the CuO exposed plants was also reflected in the elevated occurrence of necrosis and bleaching in the duckweed colonies. Nano sized particles of CuO proved more phytotoxic than bulk particles, and the effects of both studied CuO sizes were concentration dependent. On the other hand, both bulk and nano sized particles of TiO 2 caused no severe phytotoxic effects, there was no concentration dependence and they could be considered as non-harmful to common duckweed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Volume versus surface-mediated recombination in anatase TiO2 nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Cavigli, Lucia; Bogani, Franco; Vinattieri, Anna; Faso, Valentina; Baldi, Giovanni

2009-09-01

We present an experimental study of the radiative recombination dynamics in size-controlled anatase TiO2 nanoparticles in the range 20-130 nm. From time-integrated photoluminescence spectra and picosecond time-resolved experiments as a function of the nanoparticle size, excitation density, and temperature, we show that photoluminescence comes out from a bulk and a surface radiative recombination. The spectral shift and the different time dynamics provide a clear distinction between them. Moreover, the intrinsic nature of the emission is also proven, providing a quantitative evaluation of volume and surface contributions.

Metal-to-Insulator Transition in Anatase TiO2 Thin Films Induced by Growth Rate Modulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tachikawa, Takashi

2012-01-01

We demonstrate control of the carrier density of single phase anatase TiO 2 thin films by nearly two orders of magnitude by modulating the growth kinetics during pulsed laser deposition, under fixed thermodynamic conditions. The resistivity and the intensity of the photoluminescence spectra of these TiO 2 samples, both of which correlate with the number of oxygen vacancies, are shown to depend strongly on the growth rate. A quantitative model is used to explain the carrier density changes.

Enhanced dye-sensitized solar cells performance using anatase TiO2 mesocrystals with the Wulff construction of nearly 100% exposed {101} facets as effective light scattering layer.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yu; Wang, Xinyu; Wang, Hai; Song, Yeping; Fang, Liang; Ye, Naiqing; Wang, Linjiang

2014-03-28

Anatase TiO2 mesocrystals with a Wulff construction of nearly 100% exposed {101} facets were successfully synthesized by a facile, green solvothermal method. Their morphology, and crystal structure are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Accordingly, a possible growth mechanism of anatase TiO2 mesocrystals is elucidated in this work. The as-prepared single anatase TiO2 mesocrystal's mean center diameter is about 500 nm, and the length is about 1 μm. They exhibit high light adsorbance, high reflectance and low transmittance in the visible region due to the unique nearly 100% exposed {101} facets. When utilized as the scattering layer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), such mesocrystals effectively enhanced light harvesting and led to an increase of the photocurrent of the DSSCs. As a result, by using an anatase TiO2 mesocrystal film as a scattering overlayer of a compact commercial P25 TiO2 nanoparticle film, the double layered DSSCs show a power conversion efficiency of 7.23%, indicating a great improvement compared to the DSSCs based on a P25 film (5.39%) and anatase TiO2 mesocrystal films, respectively. The synergetic effect of P25 and the mesocrystals as well as the latters unique feature of a Wulff construction of nearly 100% exposed (101) facets are probably responsible for the enhanced photoelectrical performance. In particular, we explore the possibility of the low surface area and exposed {101} facets as an efficient light scattering layer of DSSCs. Our work suggests that anatase TiO2 mesocrystals with the Wulff construction is a promising candidate as a superior scattering material for high-performance DSSCs.

Spontaneous and Photoinduced Conversion of CO2 on TiO2 Anatase (001)/(101) Surfaces

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ferus, Martin; Kavan, Ladislav; Zukalová, Markéta; Zukal, Arnošt; Klementová, Mariana; Civiš, Svatopluk

2014-01-01

Roč. 118, č. 46 (2014), s. 26845-26850 ISSN 1932-7447 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP108/12/0814; GA MŠk LD14115; GA MŠk(CZ) LD13060 Grant - others:COST(XE) CM1104 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 ; RVO:61388980 ; RVO:68081707 Keywords : TiO2 * FT-IR spectroscopy * nanocrystalline anatase Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 4.772, year: 2014

Eu"2"+ doped TiO_2 nano structures synthesized by HYSYCVD for thermoluminescence dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez A, J. A.; Leal C, A. L.; Melendrez A, R.; Barboza F, M.

2016-10-01

Titania (TiO_2) has attracted interest owing his potential applications as dosimetry material given his excellent optical, electrical and thermal properties and the ability to shape his structure make TiO_2 suitable for research and dosimetry applications. In this work, a systematic study to know the magnitude of processing parameters influence on thermoluminescent properties of undoped (TiO_2) and doped (TiO_2:Eu"2"+) nano materials obtained by hybrid precursor systems chemical vapor deposition (HYSYCVD) technique is presented. Synthesis of one dimension nano structures of TiO_2:Eu"2"+ was carried out using K_2TiF_6 and EuCl_2 as dopant at 0.5, 1, 2.5 and 5 wt %. The nano structures samples were irradiated with β-ray in a doses range of 0.083-3000 Gy. All thermoluminescence (Tl) glow curves showed 3 broad Tl peaks around 373, 473 and 573 K, and a dosimetric linear behavior from 0.083 to 300 Gy. The Tl has a good reproducibility, with deviations of around 5%, making these TiO_2:Eu"2"+ nano materials suitable for dosimetric applications. (Author)

Photocatalytic performance of Sn-doped and undoped TiO2 nanostructured thin films under UV and vis-lights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arpac, E.; Sayilkan, F.; Asiltuerk, M.; Tatar, P.; Kiraz, Nadir; Sayilkan, H.

2007-01-01

Sn-doped and undoped nano-TiO 2 particles have been synthesized by hydrotermal process without solvent at 200 deg. C in 1 h. Nanostructure-TiO 2 based thin films have been prepared on glass substrate by spin-coating technique. The structure, surface morphology and optical properties of the thin films and the particles have been investigated by element analysis and XRD, SEM, BET and UV-vis-NIR techniques. The photocatalytic performance of the films were tested for degradation of Malachite Green dye in solution under UV and vis-lights. The results showed that (a) hydrothermally synthesized nano-TiO 2 particles are fully anatase crystalline form and are easily dispersed in water, (b) the coated surfaces have nearly super-hydrophilic properties and (c) the doping of transition metal ion efficiently improved the photocatalytic performance of the TiO 2 thin film

Enhancement of TiO2 NPs Activity by Fe3O4 Nano-Seeds for Removal of Organic Pollutants in Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Villa

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs, synthesized in the presence of a very small amount of magnetite (Fe3O4 nanoparticles, is here presented and discussed. From X-ray diffraction (XRD and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC analyses, the crystallinity of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs seems to be affected by Fe3O4, acting as nano-seeds to improve the tetragonal TiO2 anatase structure with respect to the amorphous one. Photocatalytic activity data, i.e., the degradation of methylene blue and the Ofloxacin fluoroquinolone emerging pollutant, give evidence that the increased crystalline structure of the NPs, even if correlated to a reduced surface to mass ratio (with respect to commercial TiO2 NPs, enhances the performance of this type of catalyst. The achievement of a relatively well-defined crystal structure at low temperatures (Tmax = 150 °C, preventing the sintering of the TiO2 NPs and, thus, preserving the high density of active sites, seems to be the keystone to understand the obtained results.

Anatase/rutile TiO2 composites: Influence of the mixing ratio on the photocatalytic degradation of Malachite Green and Orange II in slurry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bojinova, A.; Kralchevska, R.; Poulios, I.; Dushkin, C.

2007-01-01

The present study is directed to clarify the influence of the ratio of anatase to rutile phase, containing in the TiO 2 samples, on their activity as photocatalysts in slurry. A series of samples corresponding to different percentages of anatase is prepared from commercial anatase and rutile TiO 2 brands (KRONOS). The crystalline phase composition of the samples is characterized by X-ray diffraction. The photocatalytic action of the mixtures is tested in photodegradation of the commercial organic dyes Malachite Green Hydrochloride and Orange II in aqueous solutions under UV irradiation. Comparative tests with Degussa P-25 are performed. The apparent rate constants of the process are determined from the kinetic curves using appropriate models. They generally increase with the anatase ratio, being always larger for Malachite Green than for Orange II

In Vitro Cytotoxicity Assessment of an Orthodontic Composite Containing Titanium-dioxide Nano-particles.

Science.gov (United States)

Heravi, Farzin; Ramezani, Mohammad; Poosti, Maryam; Hosseini, Mohsen; Shajiei, Arezoo; Ahrari, Farzaneh

2013-01-01

Background and aims. Incorporation of nano-particles to orthodontic bonding systems has been considered to prevent enamel demineralization around appliances. This study investigated cytotoxicity of Transbond XT adhesive containing 1 wt% titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-particles. Materials and methods. Ten composite disks were prepared from each of the conventional and TiO2-containg composites and aged for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM). The extracts were obtained and exposed to culture media of human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) and mouse L929 fibroblasts. Cell viability was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results. Both adhesives were moderately toxic for HGF cells on the first day of the experiment, but the TiO2-containing adhesive produced significantly lower toxicity than the pure adhesive (P0.05). There was a significant reduction in cell toxicity with increasing pre-incubation time (Porthodontic adhesive containing TiO2 nano-particles indicated comparable or even lower toxicity than its nano-particle-free counterpart, indicating that incorporation of 1 wt% TiO2 nano-particles to the composite structure does not result in additional health hazards compared to that occurring with the pure adhesive.

Solid-state synthesis of Li_4Ti_5O_1_2 whiskers from TiO_2-B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, Wenjun; Zhuang, Wei; Ji, Xiaoyan; Chen, Jingjing; Lu, Xiaohua; Wang, Changsong

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The Li_4Ti_5O_1_2 whiskers were synthesized from TiO_2-B whiskers via a solid state reaction. • The TiO_2-B crystal structure for lithium diffusion is easier than anatase. • The separated diffusion and reaction process is crucial for the solid-state syntheses of Li_4Ti_5O_1_2 whiskers. - Abstract: In this work, Li_4Ti_5O_1_2 (LTO) was synthesized from the precursors of TiO_2-B and anatase whiskers, respectively. The synthesized LTO whiskers from TiO_2-B whiskers via a solid state reaction at 650 °C have a high degree of crystallinity with an average diameter of 300 nm. However, when anatase whiskers were used as the precursor, only particle morphology LTO was produced at 750 °C. The further analysis of the precursors, the intermediate products and the final products reveal that the crystal structure of the anatase hinders the diffusion of lithium, leading to a typical reaction–diffusion process. Under this condition, only particle morphology LTO can be produced. However, the crystal structure of the TiO_2-B is easy for lithium diffusion and the process is performed in two separated steps (i.e., diffusion and reaction), which makes it possible to decrease the solid-state reaction temperature down to 650 °C and then maintain the morphologies of whiskers.

Azo dyes decomposition on new nitrogen-modified anatase TiO2 with high adsorptivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janus, M.; Choina, J.; Morawski, A.W.

2009-01-01

New vis active photocatalyst was obtained by the modification of commercial anatase TiO 2 (Police, Poland) in pressure reactor in an ammonia water atmosphere at 100 o C for 4 h. The photocatalytic activity of new material was tested during three azo dyes decomposition: monoazo (Reactive Read), diazo (Reactive Black) and poliazodye (Direct Green). Obtained photocatalyst had new bands at 1430-1440 cm -1 attributed to the bending vibrations of NH 4 + and at 1535 cm -1 associated with NH 2 groups or NO 2 and NO. UV-vis/DR spectra of photocatalyst had also insignificant decrease in visible region. Fluorescence technique was used for studying the amount of hydroxyl radicals produced on TiO 2 surface during visible light irradiation. The hydroxyl radicals produced react with coumarin present in the solution to form 7-hydroxycoumarin which has fluorescent capacity. Photocatalytic activity of modified TiO 2 was compared with commercial titanium dioxide P25 (Degussa, Germany). The photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 /N was higher than that of unmodified material and P25 under visible light irradiation. The ability for dye adsorption (Reactive Red) on photocatalyst surface was also tested. Unmodified TiO 2 and P25 has isotherm of adsorption by Freundlich model, and nitrogen-modified TiO 2 by Langmuir model. The presence of nitrogen at the surface of TiO 2 significantly increased adsorption capacity of TiO 2 as well as OH· radicals formation under visible radiation.

Porous (001-faceted anatase TiO2 nanorice thin film for efficient dye-sensitized solar cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shah Athar Ali

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Anatase TiO2 structures with nanorice-like morphology and high exposure of (001 facet has been successfully synthesized on an ITO surface using ammonium Hexafluoro Titanate and Hexamethylenetetramine as precursor and capping agent, respectively, under a microwave-assisted liquid-phase deposition method. These anatase TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared within five minutes of reaction time by utilizing an inverter microwave system at a normal atmospheric pressure. The morphology and the size (approximately from 6 to 70 nm of these nanostructures can be controlled. Homogenous, porous, 5.64 ± 0.002 μm thick layer of spongy-nanorice with facets (101 and (001 was grown on ITO substrate and used as a photo-anode in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC. This solar cell device has emerged out with 4.05 ± 0.10% power conversion efficiency (PCE and 72% of incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE under AM1.5 G illumination.

Preparation and Photocatalytic Property of TiO2/Diatomite-Based Porous Ceramics Composite Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuilin Zheng

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The diatomite-based porous ceramics was made by low-temperature sintering. Then the nano-TiO2/diatomite-based porous ceramics composite materials were prepared by hydrolysis deposition method with titanium tetrachloride as the precursor of TiO2 and diatomite-based porous as the supporting body of the nano-TiO2. The structure and microscopic appearance of nano-TiO2/diatomite-based porous ceramics composite materials was characterized by XRD and SEM. The photocatalytic property of the composite was investigated by the degradation of malachite green. Results showed that, after calcination at 550°C, TiO2 thin film loaded on the diatomite-based porous ceramics is anatase TiO2 and average grain size of TiO2 is about 10 nm. The degradation ratio of the composite for 5 mg/L malachite green solution reached 86.2% after irradiation for 6 h under ultraviolet.

Particle emission rates during electrostatic spray deposition of TiO2 nanoparticle-based photoactive coating.

Science.gov (United States)

Koivisto, Antti J; Jensen, Alexander C Ø; Kling, Kirsten I; Kling, Jens; Budtz, Hans Christian; Koponen, Ismo K; Tuinman, Ilse; Hussein, Tareq; Jensen, Keld A; Nørgaard, Asger; Levin, Marcus

2018-01-05

Here, we studied the particle release rate during Electrostatic spray deposition of anatase-(TiO 2 )-based photoactive coating onto tiles and wallpaper using a commercially available electrostatic spray device. Spraying was performed in a 20.3m 3 test chamber while measuring concentrations of 5.6nm to 31μm-size particles and volatile organic compounds (VOC), as well as particle deposition onto room surfaces and on the spray gun user hand. The particle emission and deposition rates were quantified using aerosol mass balance modelling. The geometric mean particle number emission rate was 1.9×10 10 s -1 and the mean mass emission rate was 381μgs -1 . The respirable mass emission-rate was 65% lower than observed for the entire measured size-range. The mass emission rates were linearly scalable (±ca. 20%) to the process duration. The particle deposition rates were up to 15h -1 for deposited particles consisted of mainly TiO 2 , TiO 2 mixed with Cl and/or Ag, TiO 2 particles coated with carbon, and Ag particles with size ranging from 60nm to ca. 5μm. As expected, no significant VOC emissions were observed as a result of spraying. Finally, we provide recommendations for exposure model parameterization. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surface energy effects on the stability of anatase and rutile nanocrystals: A predictive diagram for Nb_2O_5-doped-TiO_2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Andre Luiz da; Hotza, Dachamir; Castro, Ricardo H.R.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Anatase-rutile phase transition diagram was built for nano Nb_2O_5-doped-TiO_2. • Nb_2O_5-doping postpones the anatase-to-rutile transition. • The stability crossover for TiO_2 was 17.3 nm, for 2 mol% Nb_2O_5-doped-TiO_2 ∼30 nm. • The surface energy for Nb_2O_5-doped-TiO_2 decreases systematically with Nb concentration. - Abstract: Titanium dioxide nanoparticles are widely used for photocatalysis, and the relative fraction of titanium dioxide polymorph, i.e. anatase, rutile, or brookite, significantly affects the final performance. Even though conventional phase diagrams indicate a higher stability for the rutile polymorph, it is well established that nanosizes benefit the anatase phase due to its smaller surface energy. However, doping elements are expected to change this behavior, once changes in both surface and bulk energies may occur. Nb_2O_5 is commonly added to TiO_2 to allow property control. However, the effect of niobium on the relative stability of anatase and rutile phases is not well understood from the thermodynamic point of view. The objective of this work was to build a new predictive nanoscale phase diagram for Nb_2O_5-doped TiO_2. Water adsorption microcalorimetry and high temperature oxide melt solution were used to obtain the surface and bulk enthalpies. The phase diagram obtained shows the stable titania polymorph as a function of the composition and size.

Controlled formation of anatase and rutile TiO2 thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

OpenAIRE

Rafieian Boroujeni, Damon; Ogieglo, Wojciech; Savenije, Tom; Lammertink, Rob G.H.

2015-01-01

We discuss the formation of TiO2 thin films via DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The oxygen concentration during sputtering proved to be a crucial parameter with respect to the final film structure and properties. The initial deposition provided amorphous films that crystallise upon annealing to anatase or rutile, depending on the initial sputtering conditions. Substoichiometric films (TiOx

Influence of material properties on TiO2 nanoparticle agglomeration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongxu Zhou

Full Text Available Emerging nanomaterials are being manufactured with varying particle sizes, morphologies, and crystal structures in the pursuit of achieving outstanding functional properties. These variations in these key material properties of nanoparticles may affect their environmental fate and transport. To date, few studies have investigated this important aspect of nanoparticles' environmental behavior. In this study, the aggregation kinetics of ten different TiO2 nanoparticles (5 anatase and 5 rutile each with varying size was systematically evaluated. Our results show that, as particle size increases, the surface charge of both anatase and rutile TiO2 nanoparticles shifts toward a more negative value, and, accordingly, the point of zero charge shifts toward a lower value. The colloidal stability of anatase sphere samples agreed well with DLVO theoretical predictions, where an increase in particle size led to a higher energy barrier and therefore greater critical coagulation concentration. In contrast, the critical coagulation concentration of rutile rod samples correlated positively with the specific surface area, i.e., samples with higher specific surface area exhibited higher stability. Finally, due to the large innate negative surface charge of all the TiO2 samples at the pH value (pH = 8 tested, the addition of natural organic matter was observed to have minimal effect on TiO2 aggregation kinetics, except for the smallest rutile rods that showed decreased stability in the presence of natural organic matter.

Visible Light Irradiation-Mediated Drug Elution Activity of Nitrogen-Doped TiO2 Nano tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, S.; Moon, K.S.; Bae, J.M.; Moon, J.H.; Jin, S.

2013-01-01

We have developed nitrogen-doped TiO 2 nano tubes showing photo catalytic activity in the visible light region and have investigated the triggered release of antibiotics from these nano tubes in response to remote visible light irradiation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations indicated that the structure of TiO 2 nano tubes was not destroyed on the conditions of 0.05 and 0.1 M diethanolamine treatment. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed that nitrogen, in the forms of nitrite (TiO 2 ) and nitrogen monoxide (NO), had been incorporated into the TiO 2 nano tube surface. A drug-release test revealed that the antibiotic-loaded TiO 2 nano tubes showed sustained and prolonged drug elution with the help of polylactic acid. Visible light irradiation tests showed that the antibiotic release from nitrogen-doped nano tubes was significantly higher than that from pure TiO 2 nano tubes (ρ ≨ 0.05).

Structural and optical characterization of electrodeposited CdSe in mesoporous anatase TiO2 for regenerative quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauvage, Frédéric; Davoisne, Carine; Philippe, Laetitia; Elias, Jamil

2012-01-01

We investigated CdSe-sensitized TiO 2 solar cells by means of electrodeposition under galvanostatic control. The electrodeposition of CdSe within the mesoporous film of TiO 2 gives rise to a uniform, thickness controlled, conformal layer of nanostructured CdSe particles intimately wrapping the anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles. This technique has the advantage of providing not only a fast method for sensitization ( 2 –CdSe core–shell structure followed by the growth of an assembly of CdSe nanoparticles resembling cauliflowers. This assembly exhibits at its core a mosaic texture with crystallites of about 3 nm in size, in contrast to a shell composed of well-crystallized single crystals between 5 and 10 nm in size. Preliminary results on the photovoltaic performance of such a nanostructured composite of TiO 2 and CdSe show 0.8% power conversion efficiency under A.M.1.5 G conditions—100 mW cm −2 in association with a new regenerative redox couple based on cobalt(+III/+II) polypyridil complex (V oc = 485 mV, J sc = 4.26 mA cm −2 , ff=0.37). (paper)

Phase Equilibrium of TiO2 Nanocrystals in Flame-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Changran; Camacho, Joaquin; Wang, Hai

2018-01-19

Nano-scale titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) is a material useful for a wide range of applications. In a previous study, we showed that TiO 2 nanoparticles of both rutile and anatase crystal phases could be synthesized over the size range of 5 to 20 nm in flame-assisted chemical vapor deposition. Rutile was unexpectedly dominant in oxygen-lean synthesis conditions, whereas anatase is the preferred phase in oxygen-rich gases. The observation is in contrast to the 14 nm rutile-anatase crossover size derived from the existing crystal-phase equilibrium model. In the present work, we made additional measurements over a wider range of synthesis conditions; the results confirm the earlier observations. We propose an improved model for the surface energy that considers the role of oxygen desorption at high temperatures. The model successfully explains the observations made in the current and previous work. The current results provide a useful path to designing flame-assisted chemical vapor deposition of TiO 2 nanocrystals with controllable crystal phases. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A Facile Method for Loading CeO2 Nanoparticles on Anodic TiO2 Nanotube Arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Yulong; Yuan, Botao; Zhang, Dainan; Wang, Xiaoyi; Li, Yuanxun; Wen, Qiye; Zhang, Huaiwu; Zhong, Zhiyong

2018-04-03

In this paper, a facile method was proposed to load CeO 2 nanoparticles (NPs) on anodic TiO 2 nanotube (NT) arrays, which leads to a formation of CeO 2 /TiO 2 heterojunctions. Highly ordered anatase phase TiO 2 NT arrays were fabricated by using anodic oxidation method, then these individual TiO 2 NTs were used as tiny "nano-containers" to load a small amount of Ce(NO 3 ) 3 solutions. The loaded anodic TiO 2 NTs were baked and heated to a high temperature of 450 °C, under which the Ce(NO 3 ) 3 would be thermally decomposed inside those nano-containers. After the thermal decomposition of Ce(NO 3 ) 3 , cubic crystal CeO 2 NPs were obtained and successfully loaded into the anodic TiO 2 NT arrays. The prepared CeO 2 /TiO 2 heterojunction structures were characterized by a variety of analytical technologies, including XRD, SEM, and Raman spectra. This study provides a facile approach to prepare CeO 2 /TiO 2 films, which could be very useful for environmental and energy-related areas.

Synthesis and visible light photoactivity of anatase Ag, and garlic loaded TiO2 nanocrystalline catalyst

Science.gov (United States)

An excellent visible light activated Ag and S doped TiO2 nanocatalyst was prepared by using AgNO3 and garlic (Allium sativum) as Ag+ and sulfur sources, respectively. The catalyst resisted the change from anatase to rutile phase even at calcination at 700 oC. The photocatalytic e...

Proportion of influence phases anatase and rutile TiO_2 in the photoluminescence 538 nm emission wavelength

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Araujo, D.S.; Diniz, V.C.S.; Araujo, P.M.A.G.; Costa, A.C.F.M.; Viana, R.S.; Junior, S.A.

2016-01-01

TiO2 is one of the most studied materials in the technology area, especially in photoluminescent applications involving catalysts from the biosensor. Therefore, we propose to obtain the Pechini method TiO_2 molar ratio of citric acid/metal ions of 3:1 and 4:1 in order to investigate the influence of the proportion of anatase and rutile phases with the photoluminescence excitation wavelength of 538nm emission. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis and excitation spectroscopy. The results indicate the presence of two phases, with a proportion of 78.99 and 83.58 and 21.01% of anatase and rutile 16.42%, density 3.82 and 3.70 g/cm"3 and excitement in length wave emission 538nm with maximum intensity 91289.2 and 71880,7 cps for samples 3:1 and 4:1, respectively. Sample 3:1 with the highest percentage of rutile phase favored photoluminescence. (author)

Template-Directed Fabrication of Anatase TiO2 Hollow Nanoparticles and Their Application in Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jie Chang; Wenjian Zhang; Chunyan Hong

2017-01-01

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) was used to fabricate polymeric nanoparticles via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization of benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) using diblock copolymer poly(glycerol monomethacrylate)-block-poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PGMMA-PDMAEMA-CTA) as the macro RAFT agent.The dispersion of polymeric nanoparticles with a final concentration of about 210 mg/g (solid content of 21％) was obtained via this efficient method (PISA).The resultant polymeric nanoparticles consisting of corona-shell-core three layers with weak polyelectrolyte PDMAEMA as the shell were used as sacrificial template to fabricate TiO2 hollow nanoparticles.The negatively charged titanium precursor was absorbed into the PDMAEMA shell via the electrostatic interaction,and hydrolyzed to form polymer/TiO2 hybrid nanoparticles.Anatase TiO2 hollow nanoparticles were formed after removing the polymeric templates by calcination at 550 ℃.The experiments of photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange showed that the resultant anatase TiO2 hollow nanoparticles had high photocatalytic activity and good reusability.

Bactericidal effect of blue LED light irradiated TiO2/Fe3O4 particles on fish pathogen in seawater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, T.C.; Yao, K.S.; Yeh, N.; Chang, C.I.; Hsu, H.C.; Gonzalez, F.; Chang, C.Y.

2011-01-01

This study uses blue LED light (λ max = 475 nm) activated TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 particles to evaluate the particles' photocatalytic activity efficiency and bactericidal effects in seawater of variable salinities. Different TiO 2 to Fe 3 O 4 mole ratios have been synthesized using sol-gel method. The synthesized particles contain mainly anatase TiO 2 , Fe 3 O 4 and FeTiO 3 . The study has identified TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 's bactericidal effect to marine fish pathogen (Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida BCRC17065) in seawater. The SEM photo reveals the surface destruction in bacteria incubated with blue LED irradiated TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 . The result of this study indicates that 1) TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 acquires photocatalytic activities in both the freshwater and the seawater via blue LED irradiation, 2) higher photocatalytic activities appear in solutions of higher TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 mole ratio, and 3) photocatalytic activity decreases as salinity increases. These results suggest that the energy saving blue LED light is a feasible light source to activate TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 photocatalytic activities in both freshwater and seawater.

Photocatalytic performance of Sn-doped TiO2 nanostructured thin films for photocatalytic degradation of malachite green dye under UV and VIS-lights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayilkan, F.; Asiltuerk, M.; Tatar, P.; Kiraz, N.; Sener, S.; Arpac, E.; Sayilkan, H.

2008-01-01

Sn-doped and undoped nano-TiO 2 particles have been synthesized by hydrotermal process without acid catalyst at 225 deg. C in 1 h. Nanostructure-TiO 2 based thin films, contain at different solid ratio of TiO 2 in coating, have been prepared on glass surfaces by spin-coating technique. The structure, surface morphology and optical properties of the thin films and the particles have been investigated by element analysis and XRD, BET and UV/VIS/NIR techniques. The photocatalytic performance of the films was tested for degradation of malachite green dye in solution under UV and VIS-lights. The results showed that the hydrothermally synthesized nano-TiO 2 particles are fully anatase crystalline form and are easily dispersed in water, the coated surfaces have nearly super-hydrophilic properties and, the doping of transition metal ion efficiently improved the photocatalytic performance of the TiO 2 thin film. The results also proved that malachite green is decomposed catalytically due to the pseudo first-order reaction kinetics

Time-dependent translocation and potential impairment on central nervous system by intranasally instilled TiO2 nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jiangxue; Liu Ying; Jiao Fang; Lao Fang; Li Wei; Gu Yiqun; Li Yufeng; Ge Cuicui; Zhou Guoqiang; Li Bai; Zhao Yuliang; Chai Zhifang; Chen Chunying

2008-01-01

Nanoparticles can be administered via nasal, oral, intraocular, intratracheal (pulmonary toxicity), tail vein and other routes. Here, we focus on the time-dependent translocation and potential damage of TiO 2 nanoparticles on central nervous system (CNS) through intranasal instillation. Size and structural properties are important to assess biological effects of TiO 2 nanoparticles. In present study, female mice were intranasally instilled with two types of well-characterized TiO 2 nanoparticles (i.e. 80 nm, rutile and 155 nm, anatase; purity > 99%) every other day. Pure water instilled mice were served as controls. The brain tissues were collected and evaluated for accumulation and distribution of TiO 2 , histopathology, oxidative stress, and inflammatory markers at post-instillation time points of 2, 10, 20 and 30 days. The titanium contents in the sub-brain regions including olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results indicated that the instilled TiO 2 directly entered the brain through olfactory bulb in the whole exposure period, especially deposited in the hippocampus region. After exposure for 30 days, the pathological changes were observed in the hippocampus and olfactory bulb using Nissl staining and transmission electron microscope. The oxidative damage expressed as lipid peroxidation increased significantly, in particular in the exposed group of anatase TiO 2 particles at 30 days postexposure. Exposure to anatase TiO 2 particles also produced higher inflammation responses, in association with the significantly increased tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL-1β) levels. We conclude that subtle differences in responses to anatase TiO 2 particles versus the rutile ones could be related to crystal structure. Thus, based on these results, rutile ultrafine-TiO 2 particles are expected to have a little lower risk potential for producing adverse

A photocatalytic approach in micro arc oxidation of WO3-TiO2 nano porous semiconductors under pulse current

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bayati, M.R.; Golestani-Fard, F.; Moshfegh, A.Z.; Molaei, R.

2011-01-01

Graphical abstract: WO3-TiO2 layers were fabricated via microarc oxidation process and effect of the electrical current type on their photocatalytic performance under UV and visible illuminations was investigated. Highlights: → WO3-TiO2 layers were grown by MAO under pulse current for the first time. → Effect of the frequency and duty cycle on properties of the layers was studied. → A correlation between catalytic performance and growth conditions was proposed. - Abstract: Since ultraviolet (UV) irradiation cannot be applied for a long time in practical applications, it is necessary to develop a narrow band gap photocatalyst to decompose environmental pollutants under visible irradiation. In this research, (WO 3 ) x -(TiO 2 ) 1-x nano-porous layers were fabricated by micro arc oxidation (MAO) and influence of the electrical current type on their physical and chemical properties was investigated. Morphological studies, performed by SEM technique, revealed that pore size and roughness decreased with the frequency and increased with the duty cycle. The pulse-grown layers had a finer structure when compared to those fabricated under direct current. XRD and XPS results showed that the layers consisted of anatase, rutile, and tungsten oxide phases. Applying pulse current resulted in higher anatase relative contents. Band gap energies of the MAO-grown TiO 2 and WO 3 -TiO 2 layers were respectively measured as 3.14 and 2.96 eV. The layers fabricated under pulse current exhibited higher photoactivity under ultraviolet and visible illuminations as compared to the layers grown under direct current. Methylene blue (MB) was used as a model material to examine photocatalytic performance of the layers. Maximum MB-photodegradation reaction rate constants over the pulse-synthesized WO 3 -TiO 2 layers were measured as 0.0269 and 0.0129 min -1 for ultraviolet and visible irradiations. For layers grown under direct current, the rate constants were lower, i.e. 0.0228 and 0

Anomalous behavior of B1g mode in highly transparent anatase nano-crystalline Nb-doped Titanium Dioxide (NTO thin films

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Subodh K. Gautam

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The effect of Niobium doping and size of crystallites on highly transparent nano-crystalline Niobium doped Titanium Dioxide (NTO thin films with stable anatase phase are reported. The Nb doping concentration is varied within the solubility limit in TiO2 lattice. Films were annealed in controlled environment for improving the crystallinity and size of crystallites. Elemental and thickness analysis were carried out using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and cross sectional field emission scanning electron microscopy. Structural characteristics reveal a substitutional incorporation of Nb+5 in the TiO2 lattice which inhibits the anatase crystallites growth with increasing the doping percentage. The micro-Raman (MR spectra of films with small size crystallites shows stiffening of about 4 cm−1 for the Eg(1 mode and is ascribed to phonon confinement and non-stoichiometry. In contrast, B1g mode exhibits a large anomalous softening of 20 cm−1 with asymmetrical broadening; which was not reported for the case of pure TiO2 crystallites. This anomalous behaviour is explained by contraction of the apical Ti-O bonds at the surface upon substitutional Nb5+ doping induced reduction of Ti4+ ions also known as hetero-coordination effect. The proposed hypotheses is manifested through studying the electronic structure and phonon dynamics by performing the near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS and temperature dependent MR down to liquid nitrogen temperature on pure and 2.5 at.% doped NTO films, respectively.

Fabrikasi Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC Berdasarkan Fraksi Volume TiO2 Anatase-Rutile dengan Garcinia mangostana dan Rhoeo Spathacea sebagai Dye Fotosensitizer

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Sustia Agustini

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Sejak pertama kali dikembangkan, usaha untuk meningkatkan efisiensi Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC terus dilakukan. Mulai dari pemilihan bahan pewarna, jenis semikonduktor yang digunakan, desain counter elektroda, struktur sandwich atau yang lainnya. Anatase dan rutile adalah fase dari TiO2 yang sering digunakan untuk fabrikasi DSSC. Penelitian ini menggunakan kulit manggis dan Rhoeo spathacea yang diekstrak menggunakan ethanol sebagai pewarna alami yang mengandung antosianin. Pewarna tersebut dikarakterisasi menggunakan UV-Vis dan FTIR, dan menunjukkan absorpsi pada panjang gelombang 392 nm untuk kulit manggis dan 413 nm untuk Rhoeo spathacea. TiO2 disintesis menggunakan metode co-precipitation. Ukuran partikel yang dihasilkan adalah 11 nm untuk anatase and 54,5 nm untuk rutile dengan menggunakan persamaan Scherrer. DSSC difabrikasi dengan variasi fraksi volume TiO2 anatase dan rutile. DSSC diuji dibawah cahaya matahari dengan daya sebesar 17 mW/cm2. Kurva arus-tegangan (I-V DSSC yang dihasilkan fraksi volume 75%:25% memperlihatkan hasil terbaik dibanding yang lain. Efisiensi tertinggi adalah 0.037% dan 0.013% dihasilkan oleh DSSC dengan pewarna alami dari kulit manggis dan Rhoeo spathacea.

High Photocatalytic Activity of Fe3O4-SiO2-TiO2 Functional Particles with Core-Shell Structure

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Chenyang Xue

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a novel method of synthesizing Fe3O4-SiO2-TiO2 functional nanoparticles with the core-shell structure. The Fe3O4 cores which were mainly superparamagnetic were synthesized through a novel carbon reduction method. The Fe3O4 cores were then modified with SiO2 and finally encapsulated with TiO2 by the sol-gel method. The results of characterizations showed that the encapsulated 700 nm Fe3O4-SiO2-TiO2 particles have a relatively uniform size distribution, an anatase TiO2 shell, and suitable magnetic properties for allowing collection in a magnetic field. These magnetic properties, large area, relative high saturation intensity, and low retentive magnetism make the particles have high dispersibility in suspension and yet enable them to be recovered well using magnetic fields. The functionality of these particles was tested by measuring the photocatalytic activity of the decolouring of methyl orange (MO and methylene blue (MB under ultraviolet light and sunlight. The results showed that the introduction of the Fe3O4-SiO2-TiO2 functional nanoparticles significantly increased the decoloration rate so that an MO solution at a concentration of 10 mg/L could be decoloured completely within 180 minutes. The particles were recovered after utilization, washing, and drying and the primary recovery ratio was 87.5%.

Role of the crystalline form of titanium dioxide nanoparticles: Rutile, and not anatase, induces toxic effects in Balb/3T3 mouse fibroblasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Uboldi, Chiara; Urbán, Patricia; Gilliland, Douglas; Bajak, Edyta; Valsami-Jones, Eugenia; Ponti, Jessica; Rossi, François

2016-03-01

The wide use of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) in industrial applications requires the investigation of their effects on human health. In this context, we investigated the effects of nanosized and bulk titania in two different crystalline forms (anatase and rutile) in vitro. By colony forming efficiency assay, a dose-dependent reduction of the clonogenic activity of Balb/3T3 mouse fibroblasts was detected in the presence of rutile, but not in the case of anatase NPs. Similarly, the cell transformation assay and the micronucleus test showed that rutile TiO2 NPs were able to induce type-III foci formation in Balb/3T3 cells and appeared to be slightly genotoxic, whereas anatase TiO2 NPs did not induce any significant neoplastic or genotoxic effect. Additionally, we investigated the interaction of TiO2 NPs with Balb/3T3 cells and quantified the in vitro uptake of titania using mass spectrometry. Results showed that the internalization was independent of the crystalline form of TiO2 NPs but size-dependent, as nano-titania were taken up more than their respective bulk materials. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the cytotoxic, neoplastic and genotoxic effects triggered in Balb/3T3 cells by TiO2 NPs depend on the crystalline form of the nanomaterial, whereas the internalization is regulated by the particle size. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

In Vitro Cytotoxicity Assessment of an Orthodontic Composite Containing Titanium-dioxide Nano-particles

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Farzin Heravi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background and aims. Incorporation of nano-particles to orthodontic bonding systems has been considered to prevent enamel demineralization around appliances. This study investigated cytotoxicity of Transbond XT adhesive containing 1 wt% titanium dioxide (TiO2 nano-particles. Materials and methods. Ten composite disks were prepared from each of the conventional and TiO2-containg composites and aged for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM. The extracts were obtained and exposed to culture media of human gingival fibroblasts (HGF and mouse L929 fibroblasts. Cell viability was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT assay. Results. Both adhesives were moderately toxic for HGF cells on the first day of the experiment, but the TiO2-containing adhesive produced significantly lower toxicity than the pure adhesive (P0.05. There was a significant reduction in cell toxicity with increasing pre-incubation time (P<0.001. L929 cells showed similar toxicity trends, but lower sensitivity to detect cytotoxicity of dental composites. Conclusion. The orthodontic adhesive containing TiO2 nano-particles indicated comparable or even lower toxicity than its nano-particle-free counterpart, indicating that incorporation of 1 wt% TiO2 nano-particles to the composite structure does not result in additional health hazards compared to that occurring with the pure adhesive.

A one-step thermal decomposition method to prepare anatase TiO2 nanosheets with improved adsorption capacities and enhanced photocatalytic activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Wenting; Shang, Chunli; Li, Xue

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Anatase TiO 2 nanosheets (NSs) with high surface area have been prepared. • Only one type of surfactant, oleylamine (OM), is used as capping agents. • TiO 2 NSs possess high adsorption capacities MB and high photocatalytic activity. - Abstract: Anatase TiO 2 nanosheets (NSs) with high surface area have been prepared via a one-step thermal decomposition of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) in oleylamine (OM), and their adsorption capacities and photocatalytic activities are investigated by using methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) as model pollutants. During the synthesis procedure, only one type of surfactant, oleylamine (OM), is used as capping agents and no other solvents are added. Structure and properties of the TiO 2 NSs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N 2 adsorption analysis, UV–vis spectrum, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Photoluminescence (PL) methods. The results indicate that the TiO 2 NSs possess high surface area up to 378 m 2 g −1 . The concentration of capping agents is found to be a key factor controlling the morphology and crystalline structure of the product. Adsorption and photodegradation experiments reveal that the prepared TiO 2 NSs possess high adsorption capacities of model pollutants MB and high photocatalytic activity, showing that TiO 2 NSs can be used as efficient pollutant adsorbents and photocatalytic degradation catalysts of MB in wastewater treatment.

Preparation and Characterization of Nano-Sized TiO2@Chitosan for Bone Tissue Engineering

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Lei JIANG

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: With the development of genetic engineering, it is urgent to find a vector with high transfection efficiency and good biocompatibility for genes. We considered combining nano-TiO2 with chitosan (CTS in order to tap their respective advantages to make a better new nanoparticle as gene vector.Methods: TiO2@CTS was prepared using microemulsion method. The physicochemical property of TiO2@CTS was measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM and zeta potential. The safety and influence on MC3T3-E1 cells were detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT, blood compatibility assay and flow cytometry.Results: TiO2@CTS was well prepared and it was safe to cells under concentration tests. TiO2@CTS particles had a fuzzy boundary with a particle size remaining in 20-30 nm. Besides, the results also showed that TiO2@CTS did better in cellular uptake than TiO2 at 2 h and 24 h, and had good biocompatibility. MTT assay proved that the MC3T3 cells remained good growth when treated with different concentrations of TiO2@CTS (2.5, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 μg/mL. Moreover, transfection assay in vitro and electrophoretic mobility shift assay illustrated the high transfection efficiency of TiO2@CTS.Conclusion: TiO2@CTS is a good choice to gene transfection, with good biocompatibility, and it also provides a new thought for the application of nanotechnology in the field of aveolar bone graft material.

Photocatalytic performance of Sn-doped TiO2 nanostructured mono and double layer thin films for Malachite Green dye degradation under UV and vis-lights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayilkan, F.; Asiltuerk, M.; Tatar, P.; Kiraz, N.; Arpac, E.; Sayilkan, H.

2007-01-01

Nanostructure Sn 4+ -doped TiO 2 based mono and double layer thin films, contain 50% solid ratio of TiO 2 in coating have been prepared on glass surfaces by spin-coating technique. Their photocatalytic performances were tested for degradation of Malachite Green dye in solution under UV and vis irradiation. Sn 4+ -doped nano-TiO 2 particle a doping ratio of about 5[Sn 4+ /Ti(OBu n ) 4 ; mol/mol%] has been synthesized by hydrotermal process at 225 deg. C. The structure, surface and optical properties of the thin films and/or the particles have been investigated by XRD, BET and UV/vis/NIR techniques. The results showed that the double layer coated glass surfaces have a very high photocatalytic performance than the other one under UV and vis lights. The results also proved that the hydrothermally synthesized nano-TiO 2 particles are fully anatase crystalline form and are easily dispersed in water. The results also reveal that the coated surfaces have hydrophilic property

Study of the Bulk Charge Carrier Dynamics in Anatase and Rutile TiO2 Single Crystals by Femtosecond Time Resolved Spectroscopy

KAUST Repository

Maity, Partha

2018-04-02

Understanding of the fundamentals behind charge carriers of photo-catalytic materials are still illusive hindering progress in our quest for renewable energy. TiO2 anatase and rutile are the most understood phases in photo-catalysis and serve as the best model for fundamental studies. Their ultrafast charge carrier dynamics especially on TiO2 anatase single crystal (the most active phase) are unresolved. Here femtosecond time resolved spectroscopy (TRS) was carried out to explore the dynamics of photo-excited charge carriers’ recombination in anatase single crystal, for the first time using pump fluence effects, and compares it to that of the rutile single crystal. A significant difference in charge carrier recombination rates between both crystals is observed. We found that the time constants for carrier recombination are two orders of magnitude slower for anatase (101) when compared to those of rutile (110). Moreover, bulk defects introduced by reduction of the samples via annealing in ultra-high vacuum resulted in faster recombination rates for both polymorphs. Both states (fresh and reduced) probed by pump fluence dependence measurements revealed that the major recombination channel in fresh and reduced anatase and reduced rutile is the first-order Shockley–Reed mediated. However, for fresh rutile, third-body Auger recombination was observed, attributed to the presence of higher density of intrinsic charge carriers. At all excitation wavelengths and fluence investigated, anatase (101) single crystal show longer charge carrier lifetime when compared to rutile (110) single. This may explain the superiority of the anatase phase for the electron transfer H+ reduction to molecular hydrogen.

Effect of nano particle sizes on the third-order optical non-linearities and nanostructure of copolymer P3HT:PCBM thin film for organic photovoltaics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badran, Hussain Ali; Ajeel, Khalid I.; Lazim, Haidar Gazy

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Active layer (P3HT:PCBM) has been deposited on substrate type by spin coating at 1000 rpm. • The device was completed by evaporating a 60 nm thick, circular gold electrodes onto the P3HT:PCBM. • Nonlinear refractive indices of the three particle sizes are found to be of the order of 10"−"7 cm"2/W - Abstract: Organic solar cells are based on (3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid with methyl ester Bulk Heterojunction. An inverted structure has been fabricated using nano-anatase crystalline titanium dioxide, as the electron transport layer, which was prepared on either the Indium Tin Oxide coated glass (ITO—glass), or Silicon wafer, as well as on glass substrates by the sol–gel method, at different spin speed, using the spin-coating system. The effect of thickness on the surface morphology and on the optical properties of TiO_2 layer, was investigated using the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction, and UV–visible spectrophotometer. The samples were examined to feature currents and voltages, in the darkness and light extraction efficiency of the solar cell. The highest open-circuit voltage, V_o_c, and power conversion efficiency were 0.66% and 0.39%, fabricated with 90 nm, respectively. The non-linear optical properties of nano-anatase TiO_2 sol–gel, were investigated at different particle sizes, using the z-scan technique.

Anatase TiO2 as a Cheap and Sustainable Buffering Filler for Silicon Nanoparticles in Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Maroni, Fabio; Carbonari, Gilberto; Croce, Fausto; Tossici, Roberto; Nobili, Francesco

2017-12-08

The design of effective supporting matrices to efficiently cycle Si nanoparticles is often difficult to achieve and requires complex preparation strategies. In this work, we present a simple synthesis of low-cost and environmentally benign aAnatase TiO 2 nanoparticles as buffering filler for Si nanoparticles (Si@TiO 2 ). The average anatase TiO 2 crystallite size was approximately 5 nm. A complete structural, morphological, and electrochemical characterization was performed. Electrochemical test results show very good specific capacity values of up to 1000 mAh g -1 and cycling at several specific currents, ranging from 500 to 2000 mA g -1 , demonstrating a very good tolerance to high cycling rates. Postmortem morphological analysis shows very good electrode integrity after 100 cycles at 500 mA g -1 specific current. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Influence of substrate temperature and silver-doping on the structural and optical properties of TiO_2 films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, Dieter

2016-01-01

Evaporation of titanium together with activated oxygen is used to grow TiO_2 films and simultaneously with silver to grow Ag–TiO_2 films (5 at.% Ag) onto sapphire substrates at three different substrate temperatures: − 190, 30, and 200 °C. The obtained films were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Raman, X-ray photoelectron, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscope investigations. The properties of TiO_2 films varied with the substrate temperature. Amorphous, transparent TiO_2 films were grown at − 190 °C and opaque, polycrystalline films at 200 °C, respectively. Surprisingly, at room temperature black, amorphous TiO_2 films are obtained which transform at 350 °C into a mixture of the anatase and brookite polymorph. In the amorphous state of the TiO_2 films a predefined rutile arrangement is suggested by Raman investigations, and the contraction of the lattice constant c of anatase phases (tetragonal, space group I 4_1/amd) depending on the substrate temperature is experimentally observed. The silver-doped TiO_2 films deposited at − 190 and 30 °C contain Ag-particles with 2 nm in size inside the TiO_2 matrix, which after annealing segregate under increasing particle sizes. The silver-doping stabilizes the anatase polymorph and yields to reduced titanium species in the films especially during deposition at 30 °C. The Ag–TiO_2 films deposited at − 190 °C are transparent up to 350 °C. In the undoped as well as silver-doped TiO_2 films the rutile polymorph is directly formed at 200 °C as main phase. - Highlights: • At room temperature black, amorphous TiO_2 films are obtained. • A predefined rutile arrangement is suggested in amorphous TiO_2 films. • Annealed TiO_2 films crystallize to a mixture of the anatase and brookite polymorph. • In TiO_2 and Ag-doped TiO_2 films the rutile polymorph is directly formed at 200 °C. • Ag-doped TiO_2 films stabilize the anatase polymorph and reduced titanium

A new nano-TiO2 immobilized biodegradable polymer with self-cleaning properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Sökmen, Münevver; Tatlıdil, Ilknur; Breen, Chris; Clegg, Francis; Buruk, Celal Kurtuluş; Sivlim, Tuğba; Akkan, Senay

2011-03-15

This study concentrated on the direct immobilization of anatase nano titanium dioxide particles (TiO(2), 10nm particle size) into or onto a biodegradable polymer, polycaprolactone, by solvent-cast processes. The self-cleaning, namely photocatalytic properties of the produced materials were tested by photocatalytic removal of methylene blue as model compound and antimicrobial properties were investigated using Candida albicans as model microorganism. Produced TiO(2) immobilized polymer successfully removed methylene blue (MB, 1 × 10(-5)M) from aqueous solution without additional pH arrangement employing a UV-A light (365 nm) source. Almost 83.2% of dye was removed or decomposed by 5 wt% TiO(2) immobilized into PCL (0.08 g) and removal percentage reached to 94.2% with 5 wt% TiO(2) immobilized onto PCL after a 150 min exposure period. Although removal percentage decrease with increased ionic strength and usage of a visible light source, produced materials were still effective. TiO(2) immobilized onto PCL (5 wt%) was quite effective killing almost 54% of C. albicans (2 × 10(6)CFU/mL) after only 60 min exposure with a near visible light source. Control experiments employing PCL alone in the presence and absence of light were ineffective under the same condition. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strong out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy in ion irradiated anatase TiO2 thin films

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M. Stiller

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The temperature and field dependence of the magnetization of epitaxial, undoped anatase TiO2 thin films on SrTiO3 substrates was investigated. Low-energy ion irradiation was used to modify the surface of the films within a few nanometers, yet with high enough energy to produce oxygen and titanium vacancies. The as-prepared thin film shows ferromagnetism which increases after irradiation with low-energy ions. An optimal and clear magnetic anisotropy was observed after the first irradiation, opposite to the expected form anisotropy. Taking into account the experimental parameters, titanium vacancies as di-Frenkel pairs appear to be responsible for the enhanced ferromagnetism and the strong anisotropy observed in our films. The magnetic impurities concentrations was measured by particle-induced X-ray emission with ppm resolution. They are ruled out as a source of the observed ferromagnetism before and after irradiation.

Influence of surfactant and annealing temperature on optical properties of sol-gel derived nano-crystalline TiO2 thin films.

Science.gov (United States)

Vishwas, M; Sharma, Sudhir Kumar; Rao, K Narasimha; Mohan, S; Gowda, K V Arjuna; Chakradhar, R P S

2010-03-01

Titanium dioxide thin films have been synthesized by sol-gel spin coating technique on glass and silicon substrates with and without surfactant polyethylene glycol (PEG). XRD and SEM results confirm the presence of nano-crystalline (anatase) phase at an annealing temperature of 300 degrees C. The influence of surfactant and annealing temperature on optical properties of TiO(2) thin films has been studied. Optical constants and film thickness were estimated by Swanepoel's (envelope) method and by ellipsometric measurements in the visible spectral range. The optical transmittance and reflectance were found to decrease with an increase in PEG percentage. Refractive index of the films decreased and film thickness increased with the increase in percentage of surfactant. The refractive index of the un-doped TiO(2) films was estimated at different annealing temperatures and it has increased with the increasing annealing temperature. The optical band gap of pure TiO(2) films was estimated by Tauc's method at different annealing temperature. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adsorption and photodegradation of methylene blue on TiO_2-halloysite adsorbents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, Yuanyuan; Zheng, Pengwu

2014-01-01

TiO_2-halloysite (TiO_2-HNT) composites were fabricated by depositing anatase TiO_2 on the halloysite (HNT) surfaces with calcination treatment at 100, 200, 300 and 500 .deg. C. The obtained composites were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). HNT was attached with TiO_2 particles or clusters in sizes of 10-30 nm. With the increasing of calcination temperature, the crystalline of anatase became more perfect, but the structure of HNT could be destroyed at 500 .deg. C. The adsorption and photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) by TiO_2-HNTs were investigated. The kinetic adsorption fit the pseudo second-order, and the isotherm data followed the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of MB were in the range of 38.57 to 54.29 mg/g. TiO_2-HNTs exhibited an efficient photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of MB. For TiO_2-HNT calcined at 300 .deg. C, 81.6% MB were degraded after 4 h treatment of UV irradiation

Nano structured TiO2 thin films by polymeric precursor method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stroppa, Daniel Grando; Giraldi, Tania Regina; Leite, Edson Roberto; Varela, Jose Arana; Longo, Elson

2008-01-01

This work focuses in optimizing setup for obtaining TiO 2 thin films by polymeric precursor route due to its advantages on stoichiometric and morphological control. Precursor stoichiometry, synthesis pH, solids concentration and rotation speed at deposition were optimized evaluating thin films morphology and thickness. Thermogravimetry and NMR were applied for precursor's characterization and AFM, XRD and ellipsometry for thin films evaluation. Results showed successful attainment of homogeneous nanocrystalline anatase TiO 2 thin films with outstanding control over morphological characteristics, mean grain size of 17 nm, packing densities between 57 and 75%, estimated surface areas of 90 m 2 /g and monolayers thickness within 20 and 128 nm. (author)

Synthesis and characterization of anatase-TiO2 thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sankapal, B.R.; Lux-Steiner, M.Ch.; Ennaoui, A.

2005-01-01

A new and effective method for the preparation of nanocrystalline TiO 2 (anatase) thin films is presented. This method is based on the use of peroxo-titanium complex as a single precursor. Post-annealing treatment is necessary to convert the deposited amorphous film into TiO 2 (anatase) phase. The films obtained are uniform, compact and free of pinholes. A wide range of techniques are used for characterization, namely X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. Glass, indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) and quartz are used as substrates. TiO 2 (anatase) phase with (1 0 1) preferred orientation is obtained for the films. Byproduct (collected powder) consists of the same crystal structure. The optical measurement reveals the indirect bandgap of 3.2 eV

Synthesis and characterization of anatase-TiO 2 thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Sankapal, B. R.; Lux-Steiner, M. Ch.; Ennaoui, A.

2005-01-01

A new and effective method for the preparation of nanocrystalline TiO 2 (anatase) thin films is presented. This method is based on the use of peroxo-titanium complex as a single precursor. Post-annealing treatment is necessary to convert the deposited amorphous film into TiO 2 (anatase) phase. The films obtained are uniform, compact and free of pinholes. A wide range of techniques are used for characterization, namely X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. Glass, indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) and quartz are used as substrates. TiO 2 (anatase) phase with (1 0 1) preferred orientation is obtained for the films. Byproduct (collected powder) consists of the same crystal structure. The optical measurement reveals the indirect bandgap of 3.2 eV.

A novel synthesis method for TiO2 particles with magnetic Fe3O4 cores.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Qi; Zhang, Keqiang; An, Yi

2014-01-01

TiO2@(AC/Fe3O4) (AC is activated carbon) was prepared by using AC and Fe3O4 as joint support. The morphological features, crystal structure, and magnetism of the final product were characterized. The results indicate that TiO2 particles formed on the surface of AC and Fe3O4; the sizes of TiO2 and Fe3O4 were 0.5 and 0.7 μm respectively, and that of AC fell within a wide range. The highly crystalline cubic structures of the TiO2 particles was in accord with the standard X-ray diffractometry spectrum of magnetite and anatase. The maximum saturation magnetization of TiO2@(AC/Fe3O4) was 75 emu g(-1), which was enough to support magnetic recovery. The rate of methylene blue (MB) removal photocatalyzed by TiO2@(AC/Fe3O4) was higher by 50% than that achieved with AC/Fe3O4 photocatalysis, and similar to that achieved with TiO2@AC. The removal rate (kobs) decreased drastically from 1.77 × 10(-2) to 9.36 × 10(-3)min(-1) when the initial concentration of MB solution increased from 2.0 to 5.0 mg L(-1). The kobs value increased from 9.41 × 10(-3) to 1.34 × 10(-2)min(-1) with increasing photocatalyst dosage from 0.2 to 1.0 g, then slightly decreased to 1.33 × 10(-2)min(-1) at 2.0 g dosage.

Chemical dynamics of the first proton-coupled electron transfer of water oxidation on TiO2 anatase.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jia; Li, Ye-Fei; Sit, Patrick; Selloni, Annabella

2013-12-18

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a prototype, water-splitting (photo)catalyst, but its performance is limited by the large overpotential for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). We report here a first-principles density functional theory study of the chemical dynamics of the first proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET), which is considered responsible for the large OER overpotential on TiO2. We use a periodic model of the TiO2/water interface that includes a slab of anatase TiO2 and explicit water molecules, sample the solvent configurations by first principles molecular dynamics, and determine the energy profiles of the two electronic states involved in the electron transfer (ET) by hybrid functional calculations. Our results suggest that the first PCET is sequential, with the ET following the proton transfer. The ET occurs via an inner sphere process, which is facilitated by a state in which one electronic hole is shared by the two oxygen ions involved in the transfer.

SYNTHESIS OF MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES OF TiO2-NiFe2O4: CHARACTERIZATION AND PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY ON DEGRADATION OF RHODAMINE B

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Rahmayeni Rahmayeni

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Magnetic nanoparticles of TiO2-(xNiFe2O4 with x = 0.01, 0.1, and 0.3have been synthesized by mixture of titanium isopropoxide (TIP and nitric metal as precursors. The particles were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDX, and VSM. XRD pattern show the peaks at 2q = 25.3°, 38.4° and 47.9° which are referred as anatase phase of TiO2. Meanwhile NiFe2O4 phase was observed clearly for x = 0.3. The present of NiFe2O4 can prevent the transformation of TiO2 from anatase to rutile when the calcination temperature increased. Microstructure analyses by SEM show the homogeneous form and size of particles. The magnetic properties analysis by VSM indicates that TiO2-NiFe2O4 is paramagnetic behavior. TiO2 doped NiFe2O4 has higher photocatalytic activity than TiO2 synthesized for degradation of Rhodamine B in aqueous solution under solar light irradiation.

Sol-gel synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles and photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange in aqueous TiO2 suspensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Huaming; Zhang Ke; Shi Rongrong; Li Xianwei; Dong Xiaodan; Yu Yongmei

2006-01-01

Anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles of about 16 nm in crystal size have been successfully synthesized via a sol-gel method. Thermal treatment of the precursor at 500-600 deg. C results in the formation of different TiO 2 phase compositions. The samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Effects of the pH value of the solution, H 2 O 2 addition, TiO 2 phase composition and recycled TiO 2 on the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MeO) in TiO 2 suspensions under ultraviolet (UV) illumination were primarily investigated. The results indicate that a low pH value, proper amount of H 2 O 2 and pure anatase TiO 2 will facilitate the photocatalytic oxidation of the MeO solution. The photodegradation degree decreases with increasing the pH value of the solution and varies with different amounts of H 2 O 2 . Pure anatase TiO 2 shows better photocatalytic activity for MeO decolorization than biphase TiO 2 . The photocatalytic mechanism of the as-synthesized TiO 2 nanoparticles was discussed

Preparation of TiO sub 2 nanoparticles by pulsed laser ablation: Ambient pressure dependence of crystallization

CERN Document Server

Matsubara, M; Yamaki, T; Itoh, H; Abe, H

2003-01-01

Pulsed laser ablation (PLA) with a KrF excimer laser was used to prepare fine particles of titanium dioxide (TiO sub 2). The ablation in an atmosphere of Ar and O sub 2 (5:5) at total pressures of >= 1 Torr led to the formation of TiO sub 2 nanoparticles composed of anatase and rutile structures without any suboxides. The weight fraction of the rutile/anatase crystalline phases was dependent on the pressure of the Ar/O sub 2 gas. The TiO sub 2 nanoparticles had a spherical shape and their size, ranging from 10 and 14 nm, also appeared to be dependent on the ambient pressure. (author)

Enhanced Adsorption and Removal of Ciprofloxacin on Regenerable Long TiO2 Nano tube/Graphene Oxide Hydrogel Adsorbents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhuang, Y.; Ma, J.; Yu, F.; Yu, F.; Ma, J.

2015-01-01

To improve the adsorption performance and regeneration ability of adsorbent, a simple method was designed to synthesize long TiO 2 nano tube/reduced graphene oxide (rGO-TON) hydrogel, which has good adsorption and regeneration capacity toward ciprofloxacin. rGO-TON hydrogel could form 3D structure, which makes the separation and regeneration of adsorbent easy. For comparison, commercial P25 particle is used to prepare composite hydrogel with rGO; the results showed that TiO 2 nano tube supports the graphene sheets better than P25 particles, which would reduce the agglomeration of graphene sheets. rGO-TON have larger specific surface area (138.2m 2 /g) than rGO-P25 (79.4m 2 /g). In this paper, ciprofloxacin was chosen as target pollutants, the rGO-TON obtain excellent adsorption capacity, and the maximum adsorption capacities of rGO-TON for ciprofloxacin calculated from Langmuir model are 178.6 mg/g (R 2 =0.9929)181.8 mg/g (R 2 =0.9954) and 108.7 mg/g (R 2 =0.9964 ) for graphene oxide (GO), GO-TON, and GO-P25, respectively. In regeneration, the adsorption capacity of rGO-TON and rGO-P25 has little reduced after 5 cycles, while the adsorption capacity of rGO decreases to below 100 mg/g. Results of this work are of great significance for environmental applications of regenerable long TiO 2 nano tube/graphene oxide hydrogel as a promising adsorbent nano material for antibiotic pollutants from aqueous solutions.

Risk assessment of TiO2 photocatalyst by individual micrometer-size particle analysis with on-site combination of SEM-EDX and SR-XANES microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawai, Jun; Ishii, Hideshi; Matsui, Yasuto; Terada, Yasuko; Tanabe, Teruo; Uchiyama, Iwao

2007-01-01

Applications of synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF) microscopy combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are reported. Electron beam excited and synchrotron radiation induced X-ray emission spectra of the same yellow sand single particles are reported and compared. The Ti-K edge absorption fine structure of single microparticles of TiO 2 (rutile, anatase, and a photocatalyst aerosol) are recorded by using monochromatic synchrotron radiation of tunable energy. It is shown that the discrimination between rutile and anatase is possible. Based on the single particle speciation, the toxicity of photocatalyst aerosol powder is discussed

Preparation and electrochemical property of TiO_2/Nano-graphite composite anode for electro-catalytic degradation of ceftriaxone sodium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Xiaolei; Li, Dong; Wan, Jiafeng; Yu, Xiujuan

2015-01-01

Titanium dioxide/Nano-graphite (TiO_2/Nano-G) composite was synthesized by a sol-gel method and TiO_2/Nano-G electrode was prepared in hot-press approach. The composite was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electrons microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical performance of the TiO_2/Nano-G anode electrode was investigated through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The electro-catalytic performance was evaluated by the yield of ·OH radicals, degradation of methyl orange and ceftriaxone sodium. The results demonstrated that TiO_2 nanoparticles were dispersed on the surface and interlamination of the Nano-G uniformly, TiO_2/Nano-G electrode owned higher electro-catalytic oxidation activity and stability than Nano-G electrode. Degradation rate of ceftriaxone sodium within 120 min by TiO_2(40)/Nano-G electrode was 97.7%. And ·OH radicals given by TiO_2/Nano-G electrode was higher than that of Nano-G electrode and DSA (Ti/IrO_2-RuO_2) electrode. The excellent electro-catalytic performance could be ascribed to the admirable conductive property of the Nano-G and more production of ·OH offered by TiO_2(40)/Nano-G electrode.

A first principle simulation of competitive adsorption of SF6 decomposition components on nitrogen-doped anatase TiO2 (101) surface

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xingchen; Zhang, Xiaoxing; Cui, Hao; Zhang, Jun

2017-11-01

Gas insulated switchgear has been widely used in modern electric systems due to its significantly excellent performances such as compact structure and low land occupation as well as the security stability. However, inside defects caused during manufacture process can lead to partial discharge which might develop into serious insulation failure. Online monitoring method on basis of gas sensors is considered a promising way of detecting partial discharge for alarm ahead of time. Research has found that TiO2 nanotubes sensors show good response to SO2, SOF2, SO2F2, the decomposition components as a result of partial discharge. In order to investigate the gas-sensing mechanism of nitrogen-doped TiO2 prepared via plasma treatment methods to SO2, SOF2, and SO2F2, the adsorption structures of both three gas molecules and anatase TiO2 (101) surface were built, and DFT calculations were then carried out for calculation and analysis of adsorption parameters. Adsorption property comparison of anatase TiO2 (101) surface after nitrogen doping with Au doping and without doping shows that nitrogen doping can obviously enhance the adsorption energy for SO2 and SOF2 adsorption and no charge transfer for SO2F2 adsorption, further explaining the adsorption mechanism and doping influence of different doping elements.

Benign Synthesis of Black Microspheres of Anatase TiO2 with Paramagnetic Oxygen Vacancies through NH3 Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Maqbool, Qysar; Srivastava, Aasheesh

2017-10-09

Coloured TiO 2 is coveted for its ability to extract energy from the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. Here a facile synthesis of black anatase titania microspheres (B-TiO 2 ) through a two-step process is reported. In the first step, amorphous white TiO 2 microspheres (W-TiO 2 ) are obtained by hydrolysing titanium tetraisopropoxide by ammonia vapours in ethanol. In the second step, the W-TiO 2 is thermally annealed at 500 °C to obtain B-TiO 2 . The diffuse reflectance analysis showed that B-TiO 2 absorbs across visible spectrum with absorption extending well into NIR region. Raman scattering together with EPR analysis showed compelling evidence of the existence of oxygen deficiency within the crystal in B-TiO 2 that induces black colouration in the sample. The defects present in the black anatase sample were confirmed to be single-electron-trapped (or paramagnetic) oxygen vacancies (V o ⋅) by XPS and EPR studies. The magnetic susceptibility studies showed existence of antiferromagnetic interactions between these unpaired electron spins. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Anomalous Hall effect suppression in anatase Co:TiO2 by the insertion of an interfacial TiO2 buffer layer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lee, Y.J.; de Jong, Machiel Pieter; van der Wiel, Wilfred Gerard; Kim, Y.; Brock, J.D.

2010-01-01

We present the effect of introducing a TiO2 buffer layer at the SrTiO3 /Co:TiO2 interface on the magnetic and structural properties of anatase Co:TiO2 1.4 at. % Co. Inserting the buffer layer leads to suppression of the room-temperature anomalous Hall effect, accompanied by a reduced density of Co

Light-induced antifungal activity of TiO2 nanoparticles/ZnO nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haghighi, N.; Abdi, Y.; Haghighi, F.

2011-01-01

Antifungal activity of TiO 2 /ZnO nanostructures under visible light irradiation was investigated. A simple chemical method was used to synthesize ZnO nanowires. Zinc acetate dihydrate, Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone and deionized water were used as precursor, capping and solvent, respectively. TiO 2 nanoparticles were deposited on ZnO nanowires using an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition system. X-ray diffraction pattern of TiO 2 /ZnO nano-composite has represented the diffraction peaks relating to the crystal planes of the TiO 2 (anatase and rutile) and ZnO. TiO 2 /ZnO nanostructure antifungal effect on Candida albicans biofilms was studied and compared with the activity of TiO 2 nanoparticles and ZnO nanowires. The high efficiency photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 nanoparticles leads to increased antifungal activity of ZnO nanowires. Scanning electron microscope was utilized to study the morphology of the as prepared nanostructures and the degradation of the yeast.

The Effect of TiO2 Doped Photocatalytic Nano-Additives on the Hydration and Microstructure of Portland and High Alumina Cements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Pérez-Nicolás

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Mortars with two different binders (Portland cement (PC and high alumina cement (HAC were modified upon the bulk incorporation of nano-structured photocatalytic additives (bare TiO2, and TiO2 doped with either iron (Fe-TiO2 or vanadium (V-TiO2. Plastic and hardened state properties of these mortars were assessed in order to study the influence of these nano-additives. Water demand was increased, slightly by bare TiO2 and Fe-TiO2, and strongly by V-TiO2, in agreement with the reduction of the particle size and the tendency to agglomerate. Isothermal calorimetry showed that hydration of the cementitious matrices was accelerated due to additional nucleation sites offered by the nano-additives. TiO2 and doped TiO2 did not show pozzolanic reactivity in the binding systems. Changes in the pore size distribution, mainly the filler effect of the nano-additives, accounted for the increase in compressive strengths measured for HAC mortars. A complex microstructure was seen in calcium aluminate cement mortars, strongly dependent on the curing conditions. Fe-TiO2 was found to be homogeneously distributed whereas the tendency of V-TiO2 to agglomerate was evidenced by elemental distribution maps. Water absorption capacity was not affected by the nano-additive incorporation in HAC mortars, which is a favourable feature for the application of these mortars.

The photovoltaic efficiency of the fabrication of copolymer P3HT:PCBM on different thickness nano-anatase titania as solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Lazim, Haidar Gazy; Ajeel, Khalid I.; Badran, Hussain A.

2015-06-01

Organic solar cells based on (3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methylester (P3HT:PCBM) bulk heterojunction (BHJ) with an inverted structure have been fabricated using nano-anatase crystalline titanium dioxide (TiO2) as their electron transport layer, which was prepared on the indium tin oxide coated glass (ITO-glass), silicon wafer and glass substrates by sol-gel method at different spin speed by using spin-coating (1000, 2000 and 3000 rpm) for nano-thin film 58, 75 and 90 nm respectively. The effect of thickness on the surface morphology and optical properties of TiO2 layer were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectrophotometer. The optical band gap of the films has been found to be in the range 3.63-3.96 eV for allowed direct transition and to be in the range 3.23-3.69 eV for forbidden direct transition to the different TiO2 thickness. The samples were examined to feature current and voltages darkness and light extraction efficiency of the solar cell where they were getting the highest open-circuit voltage, Voc, and power conversion efficiency were 0.66% and 0.39% fabricated with 90 nm respectively.

Glycine assisted synthesis of flower-like TiO2 hierarchical spheres and its application in photocatalysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tao, Yu-gui; Xu, Yan-qiu; Pan, Jun; Gu, Hao; Qin, Chang-yun; Zhou, Peng

2012-01-01

Graphical abstract: Flower-like anatase TiO 2 hierarchical spheres assembled by nanosheets were synthesized by glycine assistant via a simple hydrothermal approach and after-annealing process. The obtained TiO 2 sample showed good photocatalytic activity of decomposition of methyl orange under sunlight. Highlights: ► Flower-like TiO 2 hierarchical spheres were synthesized by glycine assistant. ► Reaction time, temperature, solution pH and glycine dosage were studied. ► The formation of the flower-like TiO 2 spheres is an Ostwald ripening process. ► Flower-like TiO 2 showed high photocatalytic activity under sunlight. - Abstract: Flower-like anatase TiO 2 hierarchical spheres assembled by nanosheets were synthesized by glycine assistant via a simple hydrothermal approach and after-annealing process. These flower-like spheres are about 2 μm in diameter with sheet thickness about 20 nm. Results showed reaction time, temperature, solution pH and glycine dosage all played an important role in control of shape and size of the as-synthesized TiO 2 nanocrystals. The photocatalytic activity of this nano-TiO 2 was evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation decomposition of methyl orange under sunlight illumination in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). The photocatalytic activity of the obtained TiO 2 was higher than that of commercial TiO 2 .

Synthesis of fibrous TiO2 from layered protonic tetratitanate by a hydrothermal soft chemical process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jing Xuezhen; Li Yongxiang; Yang Qunbao; Yin Qingrui

2004-01-01

Fibrous TiO 2 (anatase) was prepared by a hydrothermal soft chemical process using H 2 Ti 4 O 9 ·0.25H 2 O as a template precursor. The influence of reaction time, temperature and precursor concentration on the phase formation, morphology and crystal-axis orientation were studied. The results have shown that fibrous anatase can be obtained at 220 deg. C for 24 h with the precursor concentrations in the range of 0.025-0.100 M, and that particles had diameters of 0.2-1 μm and lengths of 2-20 μm. The fibrous TiO 2 anatase prepared by this method showed a high orientation along a-axis direction. X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and SEM analyses have indicated that in situ transformation mechanism dominated the entire hydrothermal process but dissolution-recrystallization also occurred on the surface of the particles

Nano-MnO2@TiO2 microspheres: A novel structure and excellent performance as anode of lithium-ion batteries

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Zhiguang; Chen, Xiaoqiao; Xing, Lidang; Liao, Youhao; Xu, Mengqing; Li, Xiaoping; Liu, Xiang; Li, Weishan

2018-03-01

A structurally hierarchical MnO2/TiO2 composite (Nano-MnO2@TiO2) is fabricated by calcining MnCO3 microspheres and coating a thin layer of TiO2 through the heat decomposition of tetrabutyl titanate, and evaluated as anode of gravimetrically and volumetrically high energy density lithium ion battery. The characterizations from FESEM, TEM, HRTEM and XRD, indicate that the resulting Nano-MnO2@TiO2 takes a spherical morphology with a core of about 2 μm in diameter, consisting of compact MnO2 nanoparticles, and a shell of 60 nm thick, consisting of smaller TiO2 nanoparticles. The charge/discharge tests demonstrate that Nano-MnO2@TiO2 exhibits excellent performance as anode of lithium ion battery, delivering a capacity of 938 mAh g-1 at 300 mA g-1 after 200 cycles, compared to the 103 mAh g-1 of the uncoated sample. The microsphere consisting of compact nanoparticles provides Nano-MnO2@TiO2 with high specific gravity. The dimensionally and structurally stable TiO2 maintains the integrity of MnO2 microspheres and facilitates lithium insertion/extraction. This unique structure yields the excellent cyclic stability and rate capability of Nano-MnO2@TiO2.

Development of Nano TiO2–Geopolymer Functional Composite as Antifouling Bricks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kusuma Wardani Nurul

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of study is to examine the ability of nano TiO2 – geopolymer functional composite as antifouling bricks. The samples were synthesized through alkali-activation method at 70°C for 1 hour by mixing metaclay with TiO2 nanoparticles and activated with sodium silicate solution. There were two series of samples produced, namely, GT_A with addition of 2% nanoTiO2 and GT_B with addition of 4% nano TiO2 relative to the mass of metaclay. The samples were immersed in water and in 1M H2SO4 solution for 4 days to examine the resistance of composites in hars environment. The x-ray diffraction (XRD was performed to examine the chemical compositions of the samples before and after environmental test. The morphology of the samples surfaces was examined by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS. Based on this study, sample GT_A shows its excellent properties as antifouling bricks. The addition of nano TiO2 was found to improve the quality of geopolymers as a high performance bricks.

Facile fabrication of p-n heterojunctions for Cu2O submicroparticles deposited on anatase TiO2 nanobelts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Li; Lei, Jingguo; Ji, Tianhao

2011-01-01

Graphical abstract: Cu 2 O particle-deposited TiO 2 nanobelts with p-n semiconductor heterojunction structure were successfully prepared via two-step preparation process, and their visible-light photodegradation activities of Rhodamine B were investigated in detail. Highlights: → Cu 2 O particle-deposited TiO 2 nanobelts mainly with diameters in a range of 200-400 nm were successfully prepared. → The amount of Cu 2 O particles deposited on TiO 2 nanobelts can be tuned. → The composite structure with Cu 2 O particles and TiO 2 nanobelts exhibits p-n semiconductor heterojunction performance. → Photocatalytic properties of such composites. -- Abstract: In this paper, Cu 2 O particle-deposited TiO 2 nanobelts with p-n semiconductor heterojunction structure were successfully prepared via a two-step preparation process to investigate electron-transfer performance between p-type Cu 2 O and n-type TiO 2 . Various measurement results confirm that the amount of pure Cu 2 O submicroparticles, with diameters within the range of 200-400 nm and deposited on the surface of TiO 2 nanobelts, can be controlled, and that the purity of Cu 2 O is heavily affected by reaction time. Visible-light photodegradation activities of Rhodamine B show that photocatalysts have little or no photocatalytic activities mainly due to their p-n heterojunction structure, indicating that there hardly appears any electron-transfer from Cu 2 O to TiO 2 .

Hydrothermal synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of mixed-phase TiO2 powders with controllable anatase/rutile ratio

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qi; Qiao, Zhi; Jiang, Peng; Kuang, Jianlei; Liu, Wenxiu; Cao, Wenbin

2018-03-01

In this study, mixed-phase TiO2 powders were novelly synthesized via a facile and mild hydrothermal method without any post-heat treatment. TiOSO4 and peroxide titanic acid (PTA) were used as inorganic titanium sources, while no special solvent or additive were introduced. The XRD and TEM results showed the mixed-phase TiO2 powders were composed of anatase and rutile phases, and the PTA sol played an important role on forming the rutile nucleus. The proportion of rutile in the mixed-phase TiO2 could be easily controlled in the range of 0%-70.5% by changing the amount of PTA sol used in the synthesis process. The UV-Visible absorption spectra indicated the prepared mixed-phase TiO2 showed enhanced visible light absorption with the increase of rutile ratio. The photodegradation experiments revealed the mixed-phase TiO2 exhibited the best photocatalytic activity at the rutile ratio of 41.5%, while a higher or lower rutile ratio both resulted in the decrease of photocatalytic activity.

Study of the electrochemical behavior at low temperatures of green anodes for Lithium ion batteries prepared with anatase TiO2 and water soluble sodium carboxymethyl cellulose binder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mancini, M.; Nobili, F.; Tossici, R.; Marassi, R.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Water soluble CMC and PVDF binders are used to prepare anatase TiO 2 electrodes. ► The electrochemical behavior of the different electrodes is studied between 20 and −30 °C. ► CMC/TiO 2 anodes show lower ICL, lower polarization and higher low-temperature capacity at high rates than PVDF/TiO 2 anodes. ► Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy results show better kinetics for CMC/TiO 2 electrodes. - Abstract: The electrochemical behavior at low temperatures of anatase TiO 2 electrodes for Lithium ion batteries have been evaluated by galvanostatic cycles in the temperature range 20 to −30 °C. Two different manufacturing processes have been used to prepare anatase anodes containing water soluble sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) or poly(vinilydene fluoride) (PVDF) as binder. The low temperature performances at different charge/discharge rates of TiO 2 /CMC and TiO 2 /PVDF electrodes are compared and discussed in terms of irreversible capacity loss (ICL) at the first cycle, capacity retention and reversible capacity. The kinetics of the electrodes containing CMC or PVDF is evaluated by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.

Highly biocompatible TiO2:Gd3+ nano-contrast agent with enhanced longitudinal relaxivity for targeted cancer imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Chandran, Parwathy; Sasidharan, Abhilash; Ashokan, Anusha; Menon, Deepthy; Nair, Shantikumar; Koyakutty, Manzoor

2011-10-01

We report the development of a novel magnetic nano-contrast agent (nano-CA) based on Gd3+ doped amorphous TiO2 of size ~25 nm, exhibiting enhanced longitudinal relaxivity (r1) and magnetic resonance (MR) contrasting together with excellent biocompatibility. Quantitative T1 mapping of phantom samples using a 1.5 T clinical MR imaging system revealed that the amorphous phase of doped titania has the highest r1 relaxivity which is ~2.5 fold higher than the commercially used CA Magnevist™. The crystalline (anatase) samples formed by air annealing at 250 °C and 500 °C showed significant reduction in r1 values and MR contrast, which is attributed to the loss of proton-exchange contribution from the adsorbed water and atomic re-arrangement of Gd3+ ions in the crystalline host lattice. Nanotoxicity studies including cell viability, plasma membrane integrity, reactive oxygen stress and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, performed on human primary endothelial cells (HUVEC), human blood derived peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and nasopharyngeal epidermoid carcinoma (KB) cell line showed excellent biocompatibility up to relatively higher doses of 200 μg ml-1. The potential of this nano-CA to cause hemolysis, platelet aggregation and plasma coagulation were studied using human peripheral blood samples and found no adverse effects, illustrating the possibility of the safe intravenous administration of these agents for human applications. Furthermore, the ability of these agents to specifically detect cancer cells by targeting molecular receptors on the cell membrane was demonstrated on folate receptor (FR) positive oral carcinoma (KB) cells, where the folic acid conjugated nano-CA showed receptor specific accumulation on cell membrane while leaving the normal fibroblast cells (L929) unstained. This study reveals that the Gd3+ doped amorphous TiO2 nanoparticles having enhanced magnetic resonance contrast and high biocompatibility is a promising candidate for

Understanding the synergistic effects, optical and electronic properties of ternary Fe/C/S-doped TiO2 anatase within the DFT 1 U approach

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Opoku, F

2017-09-01

Full Text Available property of TiO2doped with Fe, C, and S are investigated in detail using the density functional theory + U method. The calculated band gap (3.21 eV) of TiO2anatase agree well with the experimental band gap (3.20 eV). The defect formation energy shows...

Uniformly distributed anatase TiO2 nanoparticles on graphene: Synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai, Xue; Zhang, Xiaoyuan; Hua, Zulin; Ma, Wenqiang; Dai, Zhangyan; Huang, Xin; Gu, Haixin

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Uniform distributed TiO 2 nanoparticles on graphene by a modified method. • Reduced recombination rate of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. • Effective charge transfer from TiO 2 to graphene. • Better photocatalytic activity upon UV and visible irradiation. • A mechanism of bisphenol A degradation process is proposed. - Abstract: Graphene (GR)/TiO 2 nanocomposites are successfully synthesized using a simple and efficient hydrothermal method. Even-sized anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on GR. The GR/TiO 2 nanocomposites exhibit an extended light absorption range and decreased electron–hole recombination rates. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared GR/TiO 2 nanocomposites for bisphenol A (BPA) degradation is investigated under UV (λ = 365 nm) and visible (λ ⩾ 400 nm) light irradiation. The results show that GR/TiO 2 nanocomposites have significantly higher photocatalytic activity than P25 (pure TiO 2 ). The large increase in photocatalytic activity is mostly attributed to effective charge transfer from TiO 2 nanoparticles to GR, which suppresses charge recombination during the photocatalytic process. After five successive cycles, the photodegradation activity of the GR/TiO 2 nanocomposites shows no significant decrease, which indicates that the nanocomposites are stable under UV and visible light. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to investigate the chemical bonds of GR/TiO 2 nanocomposites before and after degradation to determine the degradation intermediate products of BPA under irradiation. A proposed degradation reaction pathway of BPA is also established. This study provides new insights into the fabrication and practical application of high-performance photocatalysts in wastewater treatment

Synthesis of nano-particles by soft chemistry: structural, morphological and dimensional control. Studies of the electrochemical properties (towards dyes solar cells)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cassaignon, S.; Koelsch, M.; Jolivet, J.P.

2006-01-01

In this work are described the electrochemical behaviour of different TiO 2 films (anatase, brookite and rutile) in aqueous solution and the influence of the parameters as the crystal structure and the morphology on the electrochemical answer. To complete this study, the capacity of the double layer has been measured by impedance spectroscopy. Voltage measurements of TiO 2 sensitized by a dye will allow to discuss the reversibility of the system and the rearrangement mechanisms. At last, the influence of the nature of the TiO 2 particles (anatase, rutile and brookite) on the photovoltage has been studied in order to estimate their interest for photovoltaic devices. (O.M.)

Photocatalytic decouloration of malachite green dye by application of TiO2 nanotubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prado, Alexandre G.S.; Costa, Leonardo L.

2009-01-01

The nanotubes of titania were synthesized in a hydrothermal system and characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), FT-IR, FT-Raman, and surface charge density by surface area analyzer. These nanomaterials were applied to photocatalyse malachite green dye degradation. Photodegradation capacity of TiO 2 nanotubes was compared to TiO 2 anatase photoactivity. Malachite dye was completely degraded in 75 and 105 min of reaction photocatalysed by TiO 2 nanotubes and TiO 2 anatase, respectively. Catalysts displayed high photodegradation activity at pH 4. TiO 2 nanotubes were easily recycled whereas the reuse of TiO 2 anatase was not effective. Nanotubes maintained 80% of their activity after 10 catalytic cycles and TiO 2 anatase presented only 8% of its activity after 10 cycles.

Complex impedance study on nano-CeO2 coating TiO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Mei; Wang Honglian; Wang Xidong; Li Wenchao

2006-01-01

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles and cerium dioxide (CeO 2 ) nanoparticles coated titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles (CeO 2 -TiO 2 nanoparticles) have been successfully synthesized by sol-gel method. The complex impedance of the materials was investigated. The grain resistance, boundary resistance and activation energy of the nanoparticles were calculated according to Arrhenius equation. According to calculating results, the active capacity of pure TiO 2 nanoparticles has been improved because of nano-CeO 2 coating. An optimal CeO 2 content of 4.9 mol% was achieved. The high resolution electron microscopy images of CeO 2 -TiO 2 nanoparticles showed that TiO 2 nanoparticles, as a core, were covered by CeO 2 nanoparticles. The average size of CeO 2 coating TiO 2 nanoparticles was about 70 nm. Scanning electron microscopy observation indicted that CeO 2 nanoparticle coating improved the separation, insulation, and stability the CeO 2 -TiO 2 nanoparticles, which was benefit to the activity of materials

Immobilization of TiO2 nanoparticles on Fe-filled carbon nanocapsules for photocatalytic applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, H.-C.; Huang, G.-L.; Chen, H.-L.; Lee, Y.-D.

2006-01-01

Using a simple sol-gel method, a novel magnetic photocatalyst was produced by immobilization of TiO 2 nano-crystal on Fe-filled carbon nanocapsules (Fe-CNC). High resolution TEM images indicated that the immobilization of TiO 2 on Fe-CNC was driven primarily by heterogeneous coagulation, whereas surface nucleation and growth was the dominant mechanism for immobilizing TiO 2 on acid-functionalized hollow CNC. The TiO 2 immobilized on Fe-CNC exhibited the anatase phase as revealed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. In comparison with free TiO 2 and TiO 2 -coated CNC, TiO 2 -coated Fe-CNC displayed good performance in the removal of NO gas under UV exposure. Due to the advantages of easy recycling and good photocatalytic efficiency, the novel magnetic photocatalyst developed here has potential use in photocatalytic applications for pollution prevention

High pressure synthesis of amorphous TiO2 nanotubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quanjun Li

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Amorphous TiO2 nanotubes with diameters of 8-10 nm and length of several nanometers were synthesized by high pressure treatment of anatase TiO2 nanotubes. The structural phase transitions of anatase TiO2 nanotubes were investigated by using in-situ high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD method. The starting anatase structure is stable up to ∼20GPa, and transforms into a high-density amorphous (HDA form at higher pressure. Pressure-modified high- to low-density transition was observed in the amorphous form upon decompression. The pressure-induced amorphization and polyamorphism are in good agreement with the previous results in ultrafine TiO2 nanoparticles and nanoribbons. The relationship between the LDA form and α-PbO2 phase was revealed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM study. In addition, the bulk modulus (B0 = 158 GPa of the anatase TiO2 nanotubes is smaller than those of the corresponding bulks and nanoparticles (180-240 GPa. We suggest that the unique open-ended nanotube morphology and nanosize play important roles in the high pressure phase transition of TiO2 nanotubes.

Study of the Bulk Charge Carrier Dynamics in Anatase and Rutile TiO2 Single Crystals by Femtosecond Time Resolved Spectroscopy

KAUST Repository

Maity, Partha; Mohammed, Omar F.; Katsiev, Khabiboulakh; Idriss, Hicham

2018-01-01

as the best model for fundamental studies. Their ultrafast charge carrier dynamics especially on TiO2 anatase single crystal (the most active phase) are unresolved. Here femtosecond time resolved spectroscopy (TRS) was carried out to explore the dynamics

Association of anatase (TiO2) and microbes: unusual fossilization effect or a potential biosignature?

Science.gov (United States)

Glamoclija, Mihaela; Andrew Steele,; Marc Fries,; Juergen Schieber,; Voytek, Mary A.; Charles S. Cockell,

2015-01-01

We combined microbial paleontology and molecular biology methods to study the Eyreville B drill core from the 35.3-Ma-old Chesapeake Bay impact structure,Virginia, USA. The investigated sample is a pyrite vein collected from the 1353.81-1353.89 m depth interval, located within a section of biotite granite. The granite is a pre-impact rock that was disrupted by the impact event. A search for inorganic (mineral) biosignatures revealed the presence of micron-size rod morphologies of anatase (TiO2) embedded in chlorite coatings on pyrite grains. Neither the Acridine Orange microbial probe nor deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifi cation showed the presence of DNA or ribonucleic acid (RNA) at the location of anatase rods, implying the absence of viable cells in the investigated area. A Nile Red microbial probe revealed the presence of lipids in the rods. Because most of the lipids are resistant over geologic time spans, they are good biomarkers, and they are an indicator of biogenicity for these possibly 35-Ma-old microbial fossils. The mineral assemblage suggests that rod morphologies are associated with low-temperature (<100 °C) hydrothermal alteration that involved aqueous fl uids. The temporal constraints on the anatase fossils are still uncertain because pre-impact alteration of the granite and postimpact heating may have provided identical conditions for anatase precipitation and microbial preservation.

Formation of TiO2 domains in Poly (9-vinylcarbazole) thin film by hydrolysis-condensation of a metal alkoxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barlier, V.; Bounor-Legare, V.; Alcouffe, P.; Boiteux, G.; Davenas, J.

2007-01-01

New organic-inorganic hybrid thin films based on Poly (9-vinylcarbazole) (P9VK) and Dioxide titanium (TiO 2 ) bulk-heterojunction were obtained by a hydrolysis-condensation (H-C) process of titanium (IV) isopropoxide in thin film. The TiO 2 distribution in the film was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that homogeneous TiO 2 particles around 100 nm were formed on the surface of the polymer thin film. Photoluminescence spectroscopy has been used to study the charge transfer efficiency in the photoactive layer and results were compared with a simplest elaboration route, the dispersion of TiO 2 anatase in a P9VK solution before spin coating. Results showed that TiO 2 elaborated by H-C exhibits a competitive quenching effect with TiO 2 anatase

500 keV Ar2+ ion irradiation induced anatase to brookite phase transformation and ferromagnetism at room temperature in TiO2 thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Bharati, B.; Mishra, N. C.; Kanjilal, D.; Rath, Chandana

2018-01-01

In our earlier report, where we have demonstrated ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature (RT) in TiO2 thin films deposited through electron beam evaporation technique followed by annealing either in Ar or O2 atmosphere [Mohanty et al., Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 355 (2014) 240-245], here we have studied the evolution of structure and magnetic properties after irradiating the TiO2 thin films with 500 keV Ar2+ ions. The pristine film while exhibits anatase phase, the films become amorphous after irradiating at fluence in the range 1 × 1014 to 1 × 1016 ions/cm2. Increasing the fluence up to 5 × 1016 ions/cm2, amorphous to crystalline phase transformation occurs and the structure becomes brookite. Although anatase to rutile phase transformation is usually reported in literatures, anatase to brookite phase transformation is an unusual feature which we have reported here for the first time. Such anatase to brookite phase transformation is accompanied with grain growth without showing any change in film thickness evidenced from Rutherford's Back Scattering (RBS) measurement. From scanning probe micrographs (SPM), roughness is found to be more in amorphous films than in the crystalline ones. Anatase to brookite phase transformation could be realized by considering the importance of intermediate amorphous phase. Because due to amorphous phase, heat deposited by energetic ions are localized as dissipation of heat is less and as a result, the localized region crystallizes in brookite phase followed by grain growth as observed in highest fluence. Further, we have demonstrated ferromagnetic behavior at RT in irradiated films similar to pristine one, irrespective of their phase and crystallinity. Origin for room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) is attributed to the presence of oxygen vacancies which is confirmed by carrying out XPS measurement.

In Vitro Cytotoxicity Assessment of an Orthodontic Composite Containing Titanium-dioxide Nano-particles

OpenAIRE

Farzin Heravi; Mohammad Ramezani; Maryam Poosti; Mohsen Hosseini; Arezoo Shajiei; Farzaneh Ahrari

2013-01-01

Background and aims. Incorporation of nano-particles to orthodontic bonding systems has been considered to prevent enamel demineralization around appliances. This study investigated cytotoxicity of Transbond XT adhesive containing 1 wt% titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-particles. Materials and methods. Ten composite disks were prepared from each of the conventional and TiO2-containg composites and aged for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM). The extrac...

Screened coulomb hybrid DFT study on electronic structure and optical properties of anionic and cationic Te-doped anatase TiO2

KAUST Repository

Harb, Moussab

2013-01-01

The origin of the enhanced visible-light optical absorption in Te-doped bulk anatase TiO2 is investigated in the framework of DFT and DFPT within HSE06 in order to ensure accurate electronic structure and optical transition predictions. Various

Antimicrobial and Barrier Properties of Bovine Gelatin Films Reinforced by Nano TiO2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Nassiri

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The effects of nano titanium dioxide incorporation were investigated on the water vaporpermeability, oxygen permeability, and antimicrobial properties of bovine gelatin films. The nano TiO2 (TiO2-N was homogenized by sonication and incorporated into bovine gelatin solutions at different concentrations(e.g. 1, 2, 3, and 5% w/w of dried gelatin. The permeability of the films to water vapor and oxygen wassignificantly decreased by incorporating of low concentration TiO2-N to gelatin solutions. TiO2-N gelatin filmsshowed an excellent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Theseproperties suggest that TiO2-N has the potential as filler in gelatin-based films for using as an active packagingmaterials in pharmaceutical and food packaging industries.

Study of phase development and thermal stability in as synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles by laser pyrolysis: ethylene uptake and oxygen enrichment

Science.gov (United States)

Ilie, Alina Georgiana; Scarisoreanu, Monica; Dutu, Elena; Dumitrache, Florian; Banici, Ana-Maria; Fleaca, Claudiu Teodor; Vasile, Eugenia; Mihailescu, Ion

2018-01-01

Laser pyrolysis has proven a viable and trustworthy method of TiO2 nanoparticles fabrication, ensuring good quality and wide variety of nanoparticle morphologies and sizes. This work is aimed to phase control, experimentally studied, by parameter modulation, during one step laser pyrolysis synthesis or in combination with thermal annealing. High phase purity anatase and rutile TiO2 nanoparticles, oxygen abundant, are synthesized from TiCl4 and C2H4 gas mixtures, in the presence of air as oxygen donor, under CO2 laser radiation. The nano-titania samples are analyzed by X-ray Diffraction, EDAX, TEM and Raman spectroscopy and reveal good phase stability and distinct morphology. This study extends the method applicability onto rutile majoritarian TiO2 synthesis and generation of thermally stable anatase titania, a well-known catalyst.

Impact of anatase and rutile titanium dioxide nanoparticles on uptake carriers and efflux pumps in Caco-2 gut epithelial cells

Science.gov (United States)

Dorier, M.; Brun, E.; Veronesi, G.; Barreau, F.; Pernet-Gallay, K.; Desvergne, C.; Rabilloud, T.; Carapito, C.; Herlin-Boime, N.; Carrière, M.

2015-04-01

TiO2 microparticles are widely used in food products, where they are added as a white food colouring agent. This food additive contains a significant amount of nanoscale particles; still the impact of TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) on gut cells is poorly documented. Our study aimed at evaluating the impact of rutile and anatase TiO2-NPs on the main functions of enterocytes, i.e. nutrient absorption driven by solute-liquid carriers (SLC transporters) and protection against other xenobiotics driven by efflux pumps from the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family. We show that acute exposure of Caco-2 cells to both anatase (12 nm) and rutile (20 nm) TiO2-NPs induce early upregulation of a battery of efflux pumps and nutrient transporters. In addition they cause overproduction of reactive oxygen species and misbalance redox repair systems, without inducing cell mortality or DNA damage. Taken together, these data suggest that TiO2-NPs may increase the functionality of gut epithelial cells, particularly their property to form a protective barrier against exogenous toxicants and to absorb nutrients.TiO2 microparticles are widely used in food products, where they are added as a white food colouring agent. This food additive contains a significant amount of nanoscale particles; still the impact of TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) on gut cells is poorly documented. Our study aimed at evaluating the impact of rutile and anatase TiO2-NPs on the main functions of enterocytes, i.e. nutrient absorption driven by solute-liquid carriers (SLC transporters) and protection against other xenobiotics driven by efflux pumps from the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family. We show that acute exposure of Caco-2 cells to both anatase (12 nm) and rutile (20 nm) TiO2-NPs induce early upregulation of a battery of efflux pumps and nutrient transporters. In addition they cause overproduction of reactive oxygen species and misbalance redox repair systems, without inducing cell mortality or DNA damage. Taken

Dynamic Hydrogen Production from Methanol/Water Photo-Splitting Using Core@Shell-Structured CuS@TiO2 Catalyst Wrapped by High Concentrated TiO2 Particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Younghwan Im

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study focused on the dynamic hydrogen production ability of a core@shell-structured CuS@TiO2 photocatalyst coated with a high concentration of TiO2 particles. The rectangular-shaped CuS particles, 100 nm in length and 60 nm in width, were surrounded by a high concentration of anatase TiO2 particles (>4~5 mol. The synthesized core@shell-structured CuS@TiO2 particles absorbed a long wavelength (a short band gap above 700 nm compared to that pure TiO2, which at approximately 300 nm, leading to easier electronic transitions, even at low energy. Hydrogen evolution from methanol/water photo-splitting over the core@shell-structured CuS@TiO2 photocatalyst increased approximately 10-fold compared to that over pure CuS. In particular, 1.9 mmol of hydrogen gas was produced after 10 hours when 0.5 g of 1CuS@4TiO2 was used at pH = 7. This level of production was increased to more than 4-fold at higher pH. Cyclic voltammetry and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy confirmed that the CuS in CuS@TiO2 strongly withdraws the excited electrons from the valence band in TiO2 because of the higher reduction potential than TiO2, resulting in a slower recombination rate between the electrons and holes and higher photoactivity.

Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Anatase and Rutile TiO2 Thin Films on CHO-K1 Cells in Vitro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blanca Cervantes

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Cytotoxicity of titanium dioxide (TiO2 thin films on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1 cells was evaluated after 24, 48 and 72 h of culture. The TiO2 thin films were deposited using direct current magnetron sputtering. These films were post-deposition annealed at different temperatures (300, 500 and 800 °C toward the anatase to rutile phase transformation. The root-mean-square (RMS surface roughness of TiO2 films went from 2.8 to 8.08 nm when the annealing temperature was increased from 300 to 800 °C. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM results showed that the TiO2 films’ thickness values fell within the nanometer range (290–310 nm. Based on the results of the tetrazolium dye and trypan blue assays, we found that TiO2 thin films showed no cytotoxicity after the aforementioned culture times at which cell viability was greater than 98%. Independently of the annealing temperature of the TiO2 thin films, the number of CHO-K1 cells on the control substrate and on all TiO2 thin films was greater after 48 or 72 h than it was after 24 h; the highest cell survival rate was observed in TiO2 films annealed at 800 °C. These results indicate that TiO2 thin films do not affect mitochondrial function and proliferation of CHO-K1 cells, and back up the use of TiO2 thin films in biomedical science.

Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Anatase and Rutile TiO2 Thin Films on CHO-K1 Cells in Vitro

Science.gov (United States)

Cervantes, Blanca; López-Huerta, Francisco; Vega, Rosario; Hernández-Torres, Julián; García-González, Leandro; Salceda, Emilio; Herrera-May, Agustín L.; Soto, Enrique

2016-01-01

Cytotoxicity of titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells was evaluated after 24, 48 and 72 h of culture. The TiO2 thin films were deposited using direct current magnetron sputtering. These films were post-deposition annealed at different temperatures (300, 500 and 800 °C) toward the anatase to rutile phase transformation. The root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness of TiO2 films went from 2.8 to 8.08 nm when the annealing temperature was increased from 300 to 800 °C. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) results showed that the TiO2 films’ thickness values fell within the nanometer range (290–310 nm). Based on the results of the tetrazolium dye and trypan blue assays, we found that TiO2 thin films showed no cytotoxicity after the aforementioned culture times at which cell viability was greater than 98%. Independently of the annealing temperature of the TiO2 thin films, the number of CHO-K1 cells on the control substrate and on all TiO2 thin films was greater after 48 or 72 h than it was after 24 h; the highest cell survival rate was observed in TiO2 films annealed at 800 °C. These results indicate that TiO2 thin films do not affect mitochondrial function and proliferation of CHO-K1 cells, and back up the use of TiO2 thin films in biomedical science. PMID:28773740

TiO2/ CNT hetero-structure with variable electron beam diameter suitable for nano lithography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barati, F.; Abdi, Y.; Arzi, E.

2012-01-01

We report fabrication of a novel TiO 2 /carbon nano tube based field emission device suitable for nano lithography and fabrication of transistor. The growth of carbon nano tubes is performed on silicon substrates using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. The vertically grown carbon nano tubes are encapsulated by TiO 2 using an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition system. Field emission from the carbon nano tubes is realized by mechanical polishing of the prepared nano structure. The possibility of the application of such nano structures as a lithography tool with variable electron beam diameter was investigated. The obtained results show that spot size of less than 30 nm can be obtained by applying a proper voltage on TiO 2 surrounding gate. Electrical measurements of the fabricated device confirm the capability of this nano structure for the fabrication of field emission based field effect transistor. By applying a voltage between the gate and the cathode electrode, the emission current from carbon nano tubes shows a significant drop, indicating proper control of gate on the emission current.

Synthesis, structure and photocatalytic activity of nano TiO2 and ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

salicylic acid over combustion-synthesized nano TiO2 under UV and solar exposure has been carried out. Under identical conditions of UV exposure, the initial degra- dation rate of phenol with combustion-synthesized TiO2 is two times higher than the initial degradation rate of phenol with Degussa P25, the commercial ...

Quantitative characterization of TiO2 nanoparticle release from textiles by conventional and single particle ICP-MS

Science.gov (United States)

Mackevica, Aiga; Olsson, Mikael Emil; Hansen, Steffen Foss

2018-01-01

TiO2 is ubiquitously present in a wide range of everyday items, both as an intentionally incorporated additive and naturally occurring constituent. It can be found in a wide range of consumer products, including personal care products, food contact materials, and textiles. Normal use of these products may lead to consumer and/or environmental exposure to TiO2, possibly in form of nanoparticles. The aim of this study is to perform a leaching test and apply state-of-the-art methods to investigate nano-TiO2 and total Ti release from five types of commercially available conventional textiles: table placemats, wet wipes, microfiber cloths, and two types of baby bodysuits, with Ti contents ranging from 2.63 to 1448 μg/g. Released particle analysis was performed using conventional and single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS and spICP-MS), in conjunction with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), to measure total and particulate TiO2 release by mass and particle number, as well as size distribution. Less than 1% of the initial Ti content was released over 24 h of leaching, with the highest releases reaching 3.13 μg/g. The fraction of nano-TiO2 released varied among fabric types and represented 0-80% of total TiO2 release. Particle mode sizes were 50-75 nm, and TEM imaging revealed particles in sizes of 80-200 nm. This study highlights the importance of using a multi-method approach to obtain quantitative release data that is able to provide an indication regarding particle number, size distribution, and mass concentration, all of which can help in understanding the fate and exposure of nanoparticles.

Glycine assisted synthesis of flower-like TiO 2 hierarchical spheres and its application in photocatalysis

KAUST Repository

Tao, Yugui; Xu, Yanqiu; Pan, Jun; Gu, Hao; Qin, Changyun; Zhou, Peng

2012-01-01

Flower-like anatase TiO 2 hierarchical spheres assembled by nanosheets were synthesized by glycine assistant via a simple hydrothermal approach and after-annealing process. These flower-like spheres are about 2 μm in diameter with sheet thickness about 20 nm. Results showed reaction time, temperature, solution pH and glycine dosage all played an important role in control of shape and size of the as-synthesized TiO 2 nanocrystals. The photocatalytic activity of this nano-TiO 2 was evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation decomposition of methyl orange under sunlight illumination in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2). The photocatalytic activity of the obtained TiO 2 was higher than that of commercial TiO 2. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Glycine assisted synthesis of flower-like TiO 2 hierarchical spheres and its application in photocatalysis

KAUST Repository

Tao, Yugui

2012-11-01

Flower-like anatase TiO 2 hierarchical spheres assembled by nanosheets were synthesized by glycine assistant via a simple hydrothermal approach and after-annealing process. These flower-like spheres are about 2 μm in diameter with sheet thickness about 20 nm. Results showed reaction time, temperature, solution pH and glycine dosage all played an important role in control of shape and size of the as-synthesized TiO 2 nanocrystals. The photocatalytic activity of this nano-TiO 2 was evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation decomposition of methyl orange under sunlight illumination in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2). The photocatalytic activity of the obtained TiO 2 was higher than that of commercial TiO 2. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Theoretical study on the magnetic moments formation in Ta-doped anatase TiO2

Science.gov (United States)

Bupu, A.; Majidi, M. A.; Rusydi, A.

2017-04-01

We present a theoretical study on Ti-vacancy induced ferromagnetism in Ta-doped anatase TiO2. Experimental study of Ti1-x Ta x O2 thin film has shown that Ti-vacancies (assisted by Ta doping) induce the formation of localized magnetic moment around it, then, the observed ferromagnetism is caused by the alignment of localized magnetic moments through Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction. In this study, we focus on the formation of the localized magnetic moments in this system. We hypothesize that on a unit cell, Ti-vacancy has caused four electrons from the surrounding oxygen atoms to become unpaired. These unpaired electrons then arrange themselves into a configuration with a non-zero net magnetic moment. To examine our hypothesis, we construct a Hamiltonian of the four unpaired electrons, incorporating the Coulomb intra- and inter-orbital interactions, in matrix form. Using a set of chosen parameter values, we diagonalize the Hamiltonian to get the eigenstates and eigenvalues, then, with the resulting eigenstates, we calculate the magnetic moment, μ, by obtaining the expectation value of the square of total spin operator. Our calculation results show that in the ground state, provided that the ratio of parameters satisfies some criterion, μ ≈ 4μ B , corresponding to the four electron spins being almost perfectly aligned, can be achieved. Further, as long as we keep the Coulomb intra-orbital interaction between 0.5 and 1 eV, we find that μ ≈ 4μ B is robust up to far above room temperature. Our results demonstrate that Ti vacancies in anatase TiO2 can form very stable localized magnetic moments.

Modest effect on plaque progression and vasodilatory function in atherosclerosis-prone mice exposed to nanosized TiO2

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Lone; Sheykhzade, Majid; Jensen, Keld A

2011-01-01

of atherosclerotic plaques in aorta was assessed in mice exposed to nanosized TiO2 (0.5 mg/kg bodyweight) once a week for 4 weeks. We measured mRNA levels of Mcp-1, Mip-2, Vcam-1, Icam-1 and Vegf in lung tissue to assess pulmonary inflammation and vascular function. TiO2-induced alterations in nitric oxide (NO...... were intratracheally instilled (0.5 mg/kg bodyweight) with rutile fine TiO2 (fTiO2, 288 nm), photocatalytic 92/8 anatase/rutile TiO2 (pTiO2, 12 nm), or rutile nano TiO2 (nTiO2, 21.6 nm) at 26 and 2 hours before measurement of vasodilatory function in aorta segments mounted in myographs. The progression...

The photovoltaic efficiency of the fabrication of copolymer P3HT:PCBM on different thickness nano-anatase titania as solar cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazim, Haidar Gazy; Ajeel, Khalid I; Badran, Hussain A

2015-06-15

Organic solar cells based on (3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methylester (P3HT:PCBM) bulk heterojunction (BHJ) with an inverted structure have been fabricated using nano-anatase crystalline titanium dioxide (TiO2) as their electron transport layer, which was prepared on the indium tin oxide coated glass (ITO-glass), silicon wafer and glass substrates by sol-gel method at different spin speed by using spin-coating (1000, 2000 and 3,000 rpm) for nano-thin film 58, 75 and 90 nm respectively. The effect of thickness on the surface morphology and optical properties of TiO2 layer were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectrophotometer. The optical band gap of the films has been found to be in the range 3.63-3.96 eV for allowed direct transition and to be in the range 3.23-3.69 eV for forbidden direct transition to the different TiO2 thickness. The samples were examined to feature current and voltages darkness and light extraction efficiency of the solar cell where they were getting the highest open-circuit voltage, Voc, and power conversion efficiency were 0.66% and 0.39% fabricated with 90 nm respectively. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of TiO2 nanoparticles on the NO2− levels in cell culture media analysed by Griess colorimetric methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popescu, Traian; Lupu, Andreea R.; Diamandescu, Lucian; Tarabasanu-Mihaila, Doina; Teodorescu, Valentin S.; Raditoiu, Valentin; Purcar, Violeta; Vlaicu, Aurel M.

2013-01-01

The Griess assay has been used to determine the possible changes in the measured NO 2 − concentrations induced by TiO 2 nanoparticles in three types of nitrite-containing samples: aqueous NaNO 2 solutions with known concentrations, and two types of cell culture media—Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium (RPMI-1640) and Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM-F12) used either as delivered or enriched in NO 2 − by NaNO 2 addition. We have used three types of titania with average particle sizes between 10 and 30 nm: Degussa P25 and two other samples (undoped and Fe 3+ -doped anatase TiO 2 ) synthesised by a hydrothermal route in our laboratory. The structural, morphological, optical and physicochemical characteristics of the used materials have been studied by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (EDX), Mössbauer spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller nitrogen adsorption, UV–Vis reflectance spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. The opacity and sedimentation behaviour of the studied TiO 2 suspensions have been investigated by photometric attenuance measurements at 540 nm. To account for the photocatalytic properties of titania in a biologically relevant context, multiple Griess tests have been performed under controlled exposure to laboratory natural daylight illumination. The results show significant variations of light attenuance (associated with NO 2 − concentrations in the Griess test) depending on the opacity, sedimentation behaviour, NO 2 − adsorption and photocatalytic properties of the tested TiO 2 nanomaterials. These findings identify material characteristics recommended to be considered when analysing the results of Griess tests performed in biological studies involving TiO 2 nanoparticles.

Structural and morphological characterization of TiO2 powders prepared using Pechini and combustion reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ribeiro, P.C.; Almeida, E.P.; Costa, A.C.F.M. da; Lira, H.L.; Kiminami, R.H.G.A.

2010-01-01

TiO 2 is a semiconductor oxide and polymorphic and can exist in three crystallographic forms: anatase, rutile and broquita, and forms anatase and rutile are the major interests in scientific research. Thus, this study aims to synthesize TiO 2 by Pechini methods and combustion reaction and to evaluate the influence of synthesis methods in structural and morphological characteristics of the samples. The nanopowders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, and particle size distribution and scanning electron microscopy. The results of X-ray diffraction showed that the samples obtained by the Pechini method showed the single phase anatase with crystallite size of 20 nm and surface area of 49.44 m 2 /g, whereas the samples synthesized by combustion reaction using glycine as fuel showed the rutile phase as major phase and traces of anatase phase, with crystallite size of 65 nm and surface area 4.34 m 2 /g. (author)

Adsorption of F2C=CFCl on TiO2 nano-powder: Structures, energetics and vibrational properties from DRIFT spectroscopy and periodic quantum chemical calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tasinato, Nicola; Moro, Daniele; Stoppa, Paolo; Pietropolli Charmet, Andrea; Toninello, Piero; Giorgianni, Santi

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Adsorption of F 2 C=CFCl on TiO 2 unveiled by DRIFTS and periodic DFT. • Structural, energetic and vibrational properties of F 2 C=CFCl @ anatase (1 0 1). • Binding energies (B3LYP-D2) between −17 and −46 kJ mol −1 depending on the anchor point. • Theory and experiment converge on the CF 2 moiety as the main anchor point. - Abstract: Photodegradation over titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is a very appealing technology for removing environmental pollutants from the air, the adsorption interaction being the first step of the whole reaction pathway. In the present work the adsorption of F 2 C=CFCl (chlorotrifluoroethene, halon 1113), a compound used by industry and detected in the atmosphere, on a commercial TiO 2 nano-powder is investigated experimentally by in situ DRIFT spectroscopy and theoretically through periodic ab initio calculations rooted in DFT. The spectra of the adsorbed molecule suggest that the anchoring to the surface mainly takes place through F atoms. Theoretically, five adsorption configurations for the molecule interacting with the anatase (1 0 1) surface are simulated at B3LYP level and for each of them, structures, binding energies and vibrational frequencies are derived. The interplay between theory and experiments shows the coexistence of different adsorption configurations, the foremost ones featuring the interaction of one F atom with a fivefold coordinated Ti 4+ of the surface. These two adsorption models, which mostly differ for the orientation of the adsorbate with respect to the surface, feature a binding energy of −45.6 and −41.0 kJ mol −1 according to dispersion corrected DFT calculations. The favorable adsorption interaction appears as an important requirement toward the application of titanium dioxide technologies for the photocatalytic degradation of halon 1113.

Direct access to highly crystalline mesoporous nano TiO2 using sterically bulky organic acid templates

Science.gov (United States)

Bakre, Pratibha V.; Tilve, S. G.

2018-05-01

Sterically bulky monocarboxylic acid templates pivalic acid and phenoxyacetic acid are reported for the first time as organic templates in the sol-gel synthesis of TiO2. Mesoporous nanoparticulates of pure anatase phase and of well defined size were synthesized. The characterization of the materials prepared was done by various methods such as XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, UV-DRS, BET, etc. The prepared TiO2 samples were evaluated for the day light photodegradation of methylene blue by comparing with Degussa P25 and templates free synthesized TiO2 and were found to be more efficient.

Multiple-diffusion flame synthesis of pure anatase and carbon-coated titanium dioxide nanoparticles

KAUST Repository

Memon, Nasir

2013-09-01

A multi-element diffusion flame burner (MEDB) is useful in the study of flame synthesis of nanomaterials. Here, the growth of pure anatase and carbon-coated titanium dioxide (TiO2) using an MEDB is demonstrated. Hydrogen (H2), oxygen (O2), and argon (Ar) are utilized to establish the flame, whereas titanium tetraisopropoxide is used as the precursor for TiO2. The nanoparticles are characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, with elemental mapping (of C, O, and Ti), X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The growth of pure anatase TiO2 nanoparticles occurs when Ar and H2 are used as the precursor carrier gas, while the growth of carbon-coated nanoparticles ensues when Ar and ethylene (C2H4) are used as the precursor carrier gas. A uniform coating of 3-5nm of carbon is observed around TiO2 particles. The growth of highly crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles is dependent on the gas flow rate of the precursor carrier and amorphous particles are observed at high flow rates. Carbon coating occurs only on crystalline nanoparticles, suggesting a possible growth mechanism of carbon-coated TiO2 nanoparticles. © 2013 The Combustion Institute.

Decolorization of Methylene Blue with TiO2 Sol via UV Irradiation Photocatalytic Degradation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Yao

2010-01-01

Full Text Available TiO2 sol was prepared for the degradation of methylene blue (MB solution under ultraviolet (UV irradiation. The absorption spectra of MB indicated that the maximum wavelength, 663 nm, almost kept the same. The performance of 92.3% for color removal was reached after 160 min. The particle size of TiO2 sol was about 22.5 nm. X-ray diffraction showed that TiO2 consisted of a single anatase phase. The small size and anatase phase probably resulted in high photocatalytic activity of TiO2 sol. The degradation ratio decreased as the initial concentration of MB increased. The photodegradation efficiency decreased in the order of pH 2>pH 9>pH 7. Regarding catalyst load, the degradation increased with the mass of catalyst up to an amount of 1.5 g⋅L−1 then decreased as the mass continued to increase. The addition of H2O2 to TiO2 sol resulted in an increase on the degradation ratio.

Comparison of Benzene & Toluene removal from synthetic polluted air with use of Nano photocatalyticTiO2/ ZNO process.

Science.gov (United States)

Gholami, Mitra; Nassehinia, Hamid Reza; Jonidi-Jafari, Ahmad; Nasseri, Simin; Esrafili, Ali

2014-02-05

Mono aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) are a group of hazardous pollutants which originate from sources such as refineries, gas, and oil extraction fields, petrochemicals and paint and glue industries.Conventional methods, including incineration, condensation, adsorption and absorption have been used for removal of VOCs. None of these methods is economical for removal of pollutants of polluted air with low to moderate concentrations. The heterogeneous photocatalytic processes involve the chemical reactions to convert pollutant to carbon dioxide and water. The aim of this paper is a comparison of Benzene & Toluene removal from synthetic polluted air using a Nano photocatalytic TiO2/ ZNO process. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that Nano crystals of TiO2 and ZNO were in anatase and rutile phases. Toluene & benzene were decomposed by TiO2/ ZNO Nano photocatalyst and UV radiation. Kruskal-wallis Test demonstrated that there are significant differences (pvalue UV intensity and decreasing initial concentrations. Effect of TiO2/ZNO Nano photocatalyst on benzene is less than that on toluene. In this research, Toluene & benzene removal by TiO2/ZNO and UV followed first-order reactions.

Dye-sensitized solar cells based on anatase TiO2/multi-walled carbon nanotubes composite nanofibers photoanode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, Pingfan; Song, Lixin; Xiong, Jie; Li, Ni; Wang, Lijun; Xi, Zhenqiang; Wang, Naiyan; Gao, Linhui; Zhu, Hongliang

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► TiO 2 /multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) hybrid nanofibers are prepared via electrospinning. ► Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are assembled using TiO 2 /MWCNTs nanofibers film as photoanode. ► Energy conversion efficiency of DSSCs is greatly dependent on the content of MWCNTs. ► Moderate MWCNTs incorporation can substantially enhance the performance of DSSCs. - Abstract: Anatase TiO 2 /multi-walled carbon nanotubes (TiO 2 /MWCNTs) hybrid nanofibers (NFs) film was prepared via a facile electrospinning method. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on TiO 2 /MWCNTs composite NFs photoanodes with different contents of MWCNTs (0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1 wt.%) were assembled using N719 dye as sensitizer. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and Raman spectrometer were used to characterize the TiO 2 /MWCNTs electrode films. The photocurrent–voltage (I–V) characteristic, incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) spectrum, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were carried out to evaluate the photoelectric properties of the DSSCs. The results reveal that the energy conversion efficiency is greatly dependent on the content of MWCNTs in the composite NFs film, and a moderate incorporation of MWCNTs can substantially enhance the performance of DSSCs. When the electrode contains 0.3 wt.% MWCNTs, the corresponding solar cell yield the highest efficiency of 5.63%. This efficiency value is approximately 26% larger than that of the unmodified counterpart.

Spherical anatase TiO2 covered with nanospindles as dual functional scatters for dye-sensitized solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xue, Xiaopan; Tian, Jianhua; Liao, Wenming; Shan, Zhongqiang

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Spherical anatase TiO 2 covered with nanospindles (SNS) were employed in DSSCs. • SNS possess the dual functions of light scattering and high dye loading. • SNS were fabricated through a facile hydrothermal treatment of the precursors. • Precursors were synthesized by controlled hydrolysis of TBT after being diluted. • The cells based on SNS-18/P25 photoanode exhibited advanced performance. - Abstract: Spherical anatase TiO 2 covered with nanospindles (SNS) were fabricated through a facile hydrothermal treatment of precursors in the presence of ammonia. The precursors were synthesized by controlling hydrolysis rate of TBT (tetrabutyl titanate) in ethanol. Organic structure directing agents and toxic reagents were avoided in the two–step process. By scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), it is confirmed that the morphology and structure of the products can be controlled by adjusting hydrothermal treatment conditions. Time dependent trails revealed the growth mechanism of SNS, which indicating that ammonia can not only retard the dissolution of precursors but also make TiO 2 grow selectively along the direction. Furthermore, photocurrent-potential (I-V) curves show that the solar cells fabricated with the SNS collected after 18 h hydrothermal treatment (SNS-18) exhibit the highest solar energy conversion efficiency. The efficiency is improved by 24.5% compared with that of the cells fabricated with pure P25. Based on the UV-Vis spectrum, nitrogen sorption and IPCE analysis, the improved performance can be attributed to the enhanced scattering and increased active sites for dye loading. Therefore, the dual functions of light scattering and many active sites for dye loading make SNS superior candidates for DSSCs

Preparation and Photocatalytic Activity of Nitrogen-doped Nano TiO2/Tourmaline Composites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIU Xin-wei

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Using Ti(OC4H94 as precursor, CO(NH22 as nitrogen source, tourmaline as support, the nitrogen-doped nano TiO2/tourmaline composites were synthesized by sol-gel method with ultrasound assisted.The structure and performance of composites were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, UV-Vis DRS, SEM, EDS.The effects of calcining temperature, nitrogen-doped content, tourmaline amount, catalyst system on the photocatalytic activity of nitrogen-doped nano TiO2/tourmaline composites were studied.The results show that the photocatalytic activity of nitrogen-doped nano TiO2/tourmaline composites calcined under 500℃, the nitrogen doped amount of 5% (mole fraction, tourmaline added in an amount of 10% (mass fraction, catalyst dosage of 3g/L, under 500W UV light irradiation conditions, the photocatalytic degradation effect of TNT(10mg/L is the best, and has a good recycling performance.

Hydrothermal Preparation of Apatite Composite with Magnetite or Anatase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, Setsuaki; Ishida, Emile H.; Ioku, Koji

2006-01-01

Microstructure designed porous hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) composites with magnetite (Fe3O4) particles or anatase (TiO2) dispersion were prepared by hydrothermal treatment. These composites had micro-pores of about 0.1-0.5 μm in size. Magnetite / Hydroxyapatite composites should be suitable for medical treatment of cancer, especially in bones, because HA can bond to bones directly and magnetite can generate heat. They must be used for hyperthermia therapies of cancer in bones. Meanwhile, anatase / Hydroxyapatite composite should be suitable for environmental purification, because HA rod-shape particles expose the specific crystal face, which adsorbs organic contaminants and so on

Influence of silver on photocatalytic activity of TiO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisen, Carla Yuri; Teodoro, Vinicius; Zaghete, Maria Ap.; Perazolli, Leinig Antonio; Longo, Elson

2016-01-01

Full text: This work studied the influence of silver on photo activity of TiO 2 , prepared by Pechini method, in the photodegradation of Rhodamine-B. The catalysts were prepared with different percentage of silver (0.0, 0.5 and 1.0 %) and different calcination temperatures (500, 600 and 700°C), characterized by X-ray diffraction (DRX) and field emission gun - scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM), The powders' photo catalytic activity was defined by Rhodamine-B decolorisation test. The solution containing the dye and the catalyst, in the concentration of 0,01 mmol L -1 e 1,0 g L -1 respectively, were submitted to radiation with 9W germicidal lamp for 120 minutes. The control samples, for comparison effects, were made with TiO 2 anatase (Synth brand) and photolysis tests. In the micrographs, obtained by SEM, all the temperatures and compositions employed presented similar morphologies, it is assumed the calcination temperature rise leads to a decreased apparent porosity and the generation of particles clusters. The X-ray diffractograms indicates the calcination temperature influence in the generation of distinct TiO 2 phases during the catalysts synthesis. Regardless of the TiO 2 proportions, the only actual phase with 500°C calcination is the anatase. At 600°C, the rutile phase coexisting with the anatase phase disappears, and the rutile phase predominates. Among the catalysts, what presented greater activity was the TiO 2 with 0.5% Ag and calcination temperature of 500°C, which degraded around 100% in 60 minutes. References: [1] P. Cozolli, E. Fanizza and A. Agostiano. J. Phys.Chem. B108, 9623-9630, 2004. (author)

Searching for new TiO2 crystal phases with better photoactivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shang, Cheng; Zhao, Wei-Na; Liu, Zhi-Pan

2015-01-01

Using the recently developed stochastic surface walking global optimization method, this work explores the potential energy surface of TiO 2 crystals aiming to search for likely phases with higher photocatalytic activity. Five new phases of TiO 2 are identified and the lowest energy phase transition pathways connecting to the most abundant phases (rutile and anatase) are determined. Theory shows that a high-pressure phase, α-PbO 2 -like form (TiO 2 II) acts as the key intermediate in between rutile and anatase. The phase transition of anatase to rutile belongs to the diffusionless Martensitic phase transition, occurring through a set of habit planes, rutile(101)//TiO 2 II(001), and TiO 2 II(100)//anatase(112). With regard to the photocatalytic activity, three pure phases (#110, pyrite and fluorite) are found to possess the band gap narrower than rutile, but they are unstable at the low-pressure condition. Instead, a mixed anatase-TiO 2 II phase is found to have good stability and narrower band gap than both parent phases. Because of the phase separation, the mixed phase is also expected to improve the photocatalytic performance by reducing the probability of the electron-hole pair recombination. (paper)

Nano tubular Transition Metal Oxide for Hydrogen Production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sreekantan, S.; San, E.P.; Kregvirat, W.; Wei, L.C.

2011-01-01

TiO 2 , transition metal oxide nano tubes were successfully grown by anodizing of titanium foil (Ti) in ethylene glycol electrolyte containing 5wt. % hydrogen peroxide and 5wt. % ammonium fluoride for 60 minutes at 60V. It was found such electrochemical condition resulted in the formation of nano tube with average diameter of 90nm and length of 6.6 μm. These samples were used to study the effect of W loading by RF sputtering on TiO 2 nano tubes. Amorphous TiO 2 nano tube substrate leads to enhance incorporation of W instead of anatase. Therefore for the entire study, W was sputtered on amorphous TiO 2 nano tube substrate. TiO 2 nano tube sputtered for 1 minute resulted in the formation of W-O-Ti while beyond this point (10 minutes); it accumulates to form a self independent structure of WO 3 on the surface of the nano tubes. TiO 2 nano tube sputtered for 1 minute at 150 W and annealed at 450 degree Celsius exhibited best photocurrent density (1.4 mA/ cm 2 ) with photo conversion efficiency of 2.5 %. The reason for such behavior is attributed to W 6+ ions allows for electron traps that suppress electron hole recombination and exploit the lower band gap of material to produce a water splitting process by increasing the charge separation and extending the energy range of photoexcitation for the system. (author)

Preparation of Nanoporous TiO2 Electrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

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Hsiue-Hsyan Wang

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Nano-porous TiO2 thin films have been widely used as the working electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs. In this work, the phase-pure anatase TiO2 (a-TiO2 and rutile TiO2 (r-TiO2 have been prepared using hydrothermal processes. The investigation of photo-to-electron conversion efficiency of DSSCs fabricated from mixed-TiO2 with a-TiO2 and r-TiO2 ratio of 80 : 20 (A8R2 was performed and compared to that from commercial TiO2 (DP-25. The results showed higher efficiency of DSSC for A8R2 cells with same dependence of cell efficiency on the film thickness for both A8R2 and DP-25 cells. The best efficiency obtained in this work is 5.2% from A8R2 cell with TiO2 film thickness of 12.0 μm. The correlation between the TiO2 films thickness and photoelectron chemical properties of DSSCs fabricated from A8R2 and DP-25 was compared and discussed.

In vitro secretion of TNF-α from bone marrow mononuclear cells incubated on amino group modified TiO2 nano-composite under ultrasound irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuzono, T.; Masuda, M.; Nitta, N.; Kaya, A.; Yamane, T.; Okada, M.

2010-01-01

It is recently known that titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) can be excited by ultrasound and release of OH radicals on the surface. In this study, secretion of an indirect angiogenic factor, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), from bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) incubated on amino group modified TiO 2 nano-particles covalently coated on polyester fabric (TiO 2 /PET) under ultrasonic irradiation was examined in vitro. The cell viability and TNF-α secretion were measured under ultrasound irradiation condition with 255 mW/cm 2 of intensity, which is below the highest output (1 W/cm 2 ) specified in the safety standard for a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The living cell number on the TiO 2 /PET and original PET with/without continuous ultrasound irradiation was unchanged statistically by ANOVA test. TNF-α secretion level from BM-MNC remarkably increased on the TiO 2 /PET under ultrasonic irradiation without cell damage. It was, therefore, thought that the high level of TNF-α secretion on the TiO 2 nano-composite by ultrasound irradiation was due to oxidative stress induced from OH radicals on TiO 2 .

The Effects of Leaching Process to the TiO2 Synthesis from Bangka Ilmenite

Science.gov (United States)

Wahyuningsih, S.; Ramelan, A. H.; Pramono, E.; Argawan, P.; Djatisulistya, A.; Firdiyono, F.; Sulistiyono, E.; Sari, P. P.

2018-03-01

Ilmenite mineral is a naturally occurring iron titanate (FeTiO3) and is abundant in nature. The separation of components into TiO2 and Fe2O3 must be expand. The purpose of this research is to synthesis TiO2 nanoparticles from the filtrate of Bangka ilmenite leaching process. Leaching of ilmenite was done with H2SO4 and HCl at various concentrations. The formation of TiO2 crystal determined by hydrolysis conditions and condensation reaction. TiO2 synthesized from the filtrate of sulfuric acid leaching that produced from TiO2 anatase phase when hydrolyzed in an aquaregia solvent and low concentrations of HCl (0.1M). Hydrolysis conditions at higher concentrations of HCl (1M) was produced TiO2 anatase-rutile phase. The synthesis of TiO2 from the filtrate of hydrochloric acid leaching was produced anatase phase. While the condition under the alcoholic solvent (2-propanol: H2O (v/v) = 9: 1) anatase phase crystallites grow in the temperature range up to 550 °C, above this temperature, TiO2 transform into rutile phase.

Equilibrium lithium-ion transport between nanocrystalline lithium-inserted anatase TiO2 and the electrolyte.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganapathy, Swapna; van Eck, Ernst R H; Kentgens, Arno P M; Mulder, Fokko M; Wagemaker, Marnix

2011-12-23

The power density of lithium-ion batteries requires the fast transfer of ions between the electrode and electrolyte. The achievable power density is directly related to the spontaneous equilibrium exchange of charged lithium ions across the electrolyte/electrode interface. Direct and unique characterization of this charge-transfer process is very difficult if not impossible, and consequently little is known about the solid/liquid ion transfer in lithium-ion-battery materials. Herein we report the direct observation by solid-state NMR spectroscopy of continuous lithium-ion exchange between the promising nanosized anatase TiO(2) electrode material and the electrolyte. Our results reveal that the energy barrier to charge transfer across the electrode/electrolyte interface is equal to or greater than the barrier to lithium-ion diffusion through the solid anatase matrix. The composition of the electrolyte and in turn the solid/electrolyte interface (SEI) has a significant effect on the electrolyte/electrode lithium-ion exchange; this suggests potential improvements in the power of batteries by optimizing the electrolyte composition. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Synergistic Effect of Nitrogen Dopant and Calcination Temperature on the Visible-Light-Induced Photoactivity of N-Doped TiO2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yao-Tung Lin

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The synergistic effect of nitrogen content and calcinations temperature on the N-doped TiO2 catalysts prepared by sol-gel method was investigated. The phase and structure, chemical state, optical properties, and surface area/pore distribution of N-doped TiO2 were characterized using X-ray diffraction spectrometer, high-resolution transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis diffusion reflectance spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area. Finding showed that the photocatalytic activity of N-doped TiO2 was greatly enhanced compared to pure TiO2 under visible irradiation. N dopants could retard the transformation from anatase to rutile phase. Namely, N-doping effect is attributed to the anatase phase stabilization. The results showed nitrogen atoms were incorporated into the interstitial positions of the TiO2 lattice. Ethylene was used to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of samples under visible-light illumination. The results suggested good anatase crystallization, smaller particle size, and larger surface are beneficial for photocatalytic activity of N-doped TiO2. The N-doped TiO2 catalyst prepared with ammonia to titanium isopropoxide molar ratio of 2.0 and calcinated at 400°C showed the best photocatalytic ability.

NH3 adsorption on anatase-TiO2(101)

Science.gov (United States)

Koust, Stig; Adamsen, Kræn C.; Kolsbjerg, Esben Leonhard; Li, Zheshen; Hammer, Bjørk; Wendt, Stefan; Lauritsen, Jeppe V.

2018-03-01

The adsorption of ammonia on anatase TiO2 is of fundamental importance for several catalytic applications of TiO2 and for probing acid-base interactions. Utilizing high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and density functional theory (DFT), we identify the adsorption mode and quantify the adsorption strength on the anatase TiO2(101) surface. It was found that ammonia adsorbs non-dissociatively as NH3 on regular five-fold coordinated titanium surface sites (5f-Ti) with an estimated exothermic adsorption energy of 1.2 eV for an isolated ammonia molecule. For higher adsorbate coverages, the adsorption energy progressively shifts to smaller values, due to repulsive intermolecular interactions. The repulsive adsorbate-adsorbate interactions are quantified using DFT and autocorrelation analysis of STM images, which both showed a repulsive energy of ˜50 meV for nearest neighbor sites and a lowering in binding energy for an ammonia molecule in a full monolayer of 0.28 eV, which is in agreement with TPD spectra.

Crystal structure mediates mode of cell death in TiO2 nanotoxicity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braydich-Stolle, Laura K.; Schaeublin, Nicole M.; Murdock, Richard C.; Jiang, Jingkun; Biswas, Pratim; Schlager, John J.; Hussain, Saber M.

2009-01-01

Certain properties that nanoparticles possess differentiate them from their bulk counterparts, and these characteristics must be evaluated prior to nanoparticle studies and include: size, shape, dispersion, physical and chemical properties, surface area, and surface chemistry. Early nanotoxicity studies evaluating TiO 2 have yielded conflicting data which identify either size or crystal structure as the mediating property for nano-TiO 2 toxicity. However, it is important to note that none of these studies examined size with the crystal structure composition controlled for or examined crystal structure while controlling the nanoparticle size. The goal of this study was to evaluate the role of size and crystal structure in TiO 2 nanotoxicity while controlling for as many other nanoproperties as possible using the HEL-30 mouse keratinocyte cell line as a model for dermal exposure. In the size-dependent studies, all the nanoparticles are 100% anatase, and aggregate sizes were determined in order to take into account the effect of agglomeration on size-dependent toxicity. In addition, varying crystal structures were assessed while the size of the nanoparticles was controlled. We were able to identify that both size and crystal structure contribute to cytotoxicity and that the mechanism of cell death varies based on crystal structure. The 100% anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles, regardless of size, induced cell necrosis, while the rutile TiO 2 nanoparticles initiated apoptosis through formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Solid State Formation Mechanism of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ from an Anatase TiO₂ Source

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shen, Yanbin; Søndergaard, Martin; Christensen, Mogens

2014-01-01

Solid state synthesis of Li4Ti5O12 anode material for Li ion batteries typically results in products containing rutile TiO2 and Li2TiO3 impurities, and subsequent high calcination temperatures lead to particle growth that reduces capacity and rate ability. Here, the formation and growth of Li4Ti5O......12 particles by a solid-state reaction using anatase TiO2 with various crystallite sizes and Li2CO3 is investigated by in situ high temperature powder X-ray diffraction (HT-PXRD) and thermal gravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). The combined data provide insight into the origin...... crystallite sizes (∼50 nm, ∼30 nm, ∼20 nm, and amorphous) were explored, and decreasing crystallite sizes causes a reduced initial reaction temperature. Using anatase with a crystallite size of ∼20 nm resulted in phase pure Li4Ti5O12 at the lowest temperature (800 °C). PXRD and TG-DTA results also revealed...

Origin of the Enhanced Visible-Light Absorption in N-Doped Bulk Anatase TiO 2 from First-Principles Calculations

KAUST Repository

Harb, Moussab

2011-10-06

Extension of the absorption properties of TiO2 photocatalytic materials to the visible part of the solar spectrum is of major importance for energy and cleaning up applications. We carry out a systematic study of the N-doped anatase TiO2 material using spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) and the range-separated hybrid HSE06 functional. The thermodynamic stability of competitive N-doped TiO2 structural configurations is studied as a function of the oxygen chemical potential and of various chemical doping agents: N2, (N2 + H2), NH3, N2H4. We show that the diamagnetic TiO (2-3x)N2x system corresponding to a separated substitutional N species (with 2-4% N impurities) and formation of one-half concentration of O vacancies (1-2 atom %) is an optimal configuration thermodynamically favored by NH3, N2H4, and (N2 + H2) chemical doping agents presenting a dual nitrating-reducing character. The simulated UV-vis absorption spectra using the perturbation theory (DFPT) approach demonstrates unambiguously that the diamagnetic TiO(2-3x)N2x system exhibits the enhanced optical absorption in N-doped TiO2 under visible-light irradiation. Electronic analysis further reveals a band gap narrowing of 0.6 eV induced by delocalized impurity states located at the top of the valence band of TiO 2. A fruitful comparison with experimental data is furnished. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

SU-G-TeP3-15: Radiation Dose Enhancement by Anatase TiO2NPs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Youkhana, E; Geso, M; Feltis, B [RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC (Australia)

2016-06-15

Purpose: This work investigates radiation dose enhancement caused by TiO2 nanoparticles covering entire X-ray energy ranges used in radiation therapy. Methods: Anatase TiO2NPs crystal were synthesised and modified as hydrophilic and hydrophobic to disperse in culture-medium and halocarbons (PRESAGE chemical composition) respectively. TiO2NPs were characterised using TEM, XPS, XRD, TGA and FTIR. Various Concentrations have been utilised for determination of radiation-dose enhancement. This investigation is carried out in two ways; one using PRESAGE dosimeter/phantom and the other is radiobiological and based on in vitro study using two types of cell lines, Human Keratinocyte (HaCaT) and prostate cancer cell lines. The x-ray used are both kilovoltage and megavoltage separately. The prepared PRESAGE dosimeters were scanned using optical CT scanner. Clonogenic and MTS assays were employed for cell cytotoxicity and viability measurements for determination of the levels of dose enhancement. Results: Significant about (50%, 45%) dose enhancement by TiO2-NPs for kV x-rays is measured in both ways (Presage and Cells study). Slightly more is detected with the cells. However, the dose enhancement with megavoltage beams was insignificant using Presage and under same conditions the cells survival curves indicates around 20% which is relatively high. This difference can only be attributed to some biochemical effects. Such as generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), this can affect the cells while it can’t be detected by Presage. Elevation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) of many orders is observed with the inclusion of TiO2-NPs in cells-medium. Conclusion: Dose enhancement inflicted by TiO2-NPs is proven to be significant with megavoltage beams and minimal with kV. The high dose enhancements obtained can be attributed to higher levels of ROS generated. Since MV beams are most commonly used, this research proves potential value for more efficient beam delivery. This has

Quantum chemical elucidation of the mechanism for hydrogenation of TiO2 anatase crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Raghunath, P.; Huang, W. F.; Lin, M. C.

2013-04-01

Hydrogenation of TiO2 is relevant to hydrogen storage and water splitting. We have carried out a detailed mechanistic study on TiO2 hydrogenation through H and/or H2 diffusion from the surface into subsurface layers of anatase TiO2 (101) by periodic density functional theory calculations implementing on-site Coulomb interactions (DFT + U). Both H atoms and H2 molecules can migrate from the crystal surface into TiO2 near subsurface layer with 27.8 and 46.2 kcal/mol energy barriers, respectively. The controlling step for the former process is the dissociative adsorption of H2 on the surface which requires 47.8 kcal/mol of energy barrier. Both hydrogen incorporation processes are expected to be equally favorable. The barrier energy for H2 migration from the first layer of the subsurface Osub1 to the 2nd layer of the subsurface oxygen Osub2 requires only 6.6 kcal. The presence of H atoms on the surface and inside the subsurface layer tends to promote both H and H2 penetration into the subsurface layer by reducing their energy barriers, as well as to prevent the escape of the H2 from the cage by increasing its escaping barrier energy. The H2 molecule inside a cage can readily dissociate and form 2HO-species exothermically (ΔH = -31.0 kcal/mol) with only 26.2 kcal/mol barrier. The 2HO-species within the cage may further transform into H2O with a 22.0 kcal/mol barrier and 19.3 kcal/mol exothermicity relative to the caged H2 molecule. H2O formation following the breaking of Ti-O bonds within the cage may result in the formation of O-vacancies and surface disordering as observed experimentally under a high pressure and moderately high temperature condition. According to density of states analysis, the projected density of states of the interstitial H, H2, and H2O appear prominently within the TiO2 band gap; in addition, the former induces a shift of the band gap position notably towards the conduction band. The thermochemistry for formation of the most stable sub

Graphene-enhanced Raman imaging of TiO2 nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naumenko, Denys; Snitka, Valentinas; Snopok, Boris; Arpiainen, Sanna; Lipsanen, Harri

2012-01-01

The interaction of anatase titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles with chemical vapour deposited graphene sheets transferred on glass substrates is investigated by using atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and imaging. Significant electronic interactions between the nanoparticles of TiO 2 and graphene were found. The changes in the graphene Raman peak positions and intensity ratios indicate that charge transfer between graphene and TiO 2 nanoparticles occurred, increasing the Raman signal of the TiO 2 nanoparticles up to five times. The normalized Raman intensity of TiO 2 nanoparticles per their volume increased with the disorder of the graphene structure. The complementary reason for the observed enhancement is that due to the higher density of states in the defect sites of graphene, a higher electron transfer occurs from the graphene to the anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles. (paper)

Structures and magnetic behaviours of TiO2–Mn–TiO2 multilayers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fa-Min, Liu; Peng, Ding; Jian-Qi, Li

2010-01-01

The TiO 2 -Mn-TiO 2 multilayers are successfully grown on glass and silicon substrates by alternately using radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering and direct current magnetron sputtering. The structures and the magnetic behaviours of these films are characterised with x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer, and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). It is shown that the multi-film consists of a mixture of anatase and rutile TiO 2 with an embedded Mn nano-film. It is found that there are two turning points from ferromagnetic phase to antiferromagnetic phase. One is at 42 K attributed to interface coupling between ferromagnetic Mn 3 O 4 and antiferromagnetic Mn 2 O 3 , and the other is at 97 K owing to the interface coupling between ferromagnetic Mn and antiferromagnetic MnO. The samples are shown to have ferromagnetic behaviours at room temperature from hysteresis in the M-H loops, and their ferromagnetism is found to vary with the thickness of Mn nano-film. Moreover, the Mn nano-film has a critical thickness of about 18.5 nm, which makes the coercivity of the multi-film reach a maximum of about 3.965×10 −2 T. (cross-disciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Enhancement of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Efficiency Using Mixed-Phase TiO2 Nanoparticles as Photoanode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Hua Fan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC is a potential candidate to replace conventional silicon-based solar cells because of high efficiency, cheap cost, and lower energy consumption in comparison with silicon chip manufacture. In this report, mixed-phase (anatase and rutile nanoparticles TiO2 photoanode was synthesized to investigate material characteristics, carriers transport, and photovoltaic performance for future DSSC application. Field-emission scanning electron microscope (SEM, X-ray diffraction (XRD, photoluminescence (PL, and UV-visible spectroscopy were used to characterize mixed TiO2 particles. Subsequently, various mixed-phase TiO2 anodes in DSSC devices were measured by electrical impedance spectra (EIS and energy efficiency conversion. The overall energy conversion efficiency of DSSC chip was improved as a result of the increase of rutile phase of TiO2 (14% in anatase matrix. Synergistic effects including TiO2 crystallization, reduction of defect density level in energy band, longer lifetime of photoexcited electrons, and lower resistance of electron pathway all contributed to high efficiency of light energy conversion.

High-Temperature Stable Anatase Titanium Oxide Nanofibers for Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sangkyu; Eom, Wonsik; Park, Hun; Han, Tae Hee

2017-08-02

Control of the crystal structure of electrochemically active materials is an important approach to fabricating high-performance electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Here, we report a methodology for controlling the crystal structure of TiO 2 nanofibers by adding aluminum isopropoxide to a common sol-gel precursor solution utilized to create TiO 2 nanofibers. The introduction of aluminum cations impedes the phase transformation of electrospun TiO 2 nanofibers from the anatase to the rutile phase, which inevitably occurs in the typical annealing process utilized for the formation of TiO 2 crystals. As a result, high-temperature stable anatase TiO 2 nanofibers were created in which the crystal structure was well-maintained even at high annealing temperatures of up to 700 °C. Finally, the resulting anatase TiO 2 nanofibers were utilized to prepare LIB anodes, and their electrochemical performance was compared to pristine TiO 2 nanofibers that contain both anatase and rutile phases. Compared to the electrode prepared with pristine TiO 2 nanofibers, the electrode prepared with anatase TiO 2 nanofibers exhibited excellent electrochemical performances such as an initial Coulombic efficiency of 83.9%, a capacity retention of 89.5% after 100 cycles, and a rate capability of 48.5% at a current density of 10 C (1 C = 200 mA g -1 ).

Thin film nano-photocatalyts with low band gap energy for gas phase degradation of p-xylene: TiO2 doped Cr, UiO66-NH2 and LaBO3 (B  =  Fe, Mn, and Co)

Science.gov (United States)

Loc Luu, Cam; Thuy Van Nguyen, Thi; Nguyen, Tri; Nguyen, Phung Anh; Hoang, Tien Cuong; Ha, Cam Anh

2018-03-01

By dip-coating technique the thin films of nano-photocatalysts TiO2, Cr-doped TiO2, LaBO3 perovskites (B  =  Fe, Mn, and Co) prepared by sol-gel method, and UiO66-NH2 prepared by a solvothermal were obtained and employed for gas phase degradation of p-xylene. Physicochemical characteristics of the catalysts were examined by the methods of BET, SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR, TGA, Raman and UV-vis spectroscopies. The thickness of film was determined by a Veeco-American Dektek 6M instrument. The activity of catalysts was evaluated in deep photooxidation of p-xylene in a microflow reactor at room temperature with the radiation sources of a UV (λ  =  365 nm) and LED lamps (λ  =  400-510 nm). The obtained results showed that TiO2 and TiO2 doped Cr thin films was featured by an anatase phase with nanoparticles of 10-100 nm. Doping TiO2 with 0.1%mol Cr2O3 led to reduce band gap energy from 3.01 down to 1.99 eV and extend the spectrum of photon absorption to the visible region (λ  =  622 nm). LaBO3 perovkite thin films were also featured by a crystal phase with average particle nanosize of 8-40 nm, a BET surface area of 17.6-32.7 m2 g-1 and band gap energy of 1.87-2.20 eV. UiO66-NH2 was obtained in the ball shape of 100-200 nm, a BET surface area of 576 m2 g-1 and a band gap energy of 2.83 eV. The low band gap energy nano-photocatalysts based on Cr-doped TiO2 and LaBO3 perovskites exhibited highly stable and active for photo-degradation of p-xylene in the gas phase under radiation of UV-vis light. Perovskite LaFeO3 and Cr-TiO2 thin films were the best photocatalysts with a decomposition yield being reached up to 1.70 g p-xylene/g cat.

Thermal analysis and temperature dependent dielectric responses of Co doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alamgir; Khan, Wasi; Ahammed, Nashiruddin; Naqvi, A. H.; Ahmad, Shabbir

2015-01-01

Nanoparticles (NPs) of pure and 5 mol % cobalt doped TiO 2 synthesized through acid modified sol-gel method were characterized to understand their thermal, structural, morphological, and temperature dependent dielectric properties. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) has been used for thermal studies and indicates the weight loss in two steps due to the removal of residual organics. X-ray diffraction study was employed to confirm the formation of single anatase phase with tetragonal symmetry for both pure and 5 mol % Co doped TiO 2 NPs. The average crystallite size of both samples was calculated from the Scherrer’s formula and was found in the range from 9-11 nm. TEM micrographs of these NPs reflect their shape and distribution. The dielectric constant (ε′), dielectric loss (tanδ) and ac conductivity (σ ac ) were also studied as a function of temperature at different frequencies. Electrical responses of the synthesized NPs have been analyzed carefully in the framework of relevant models. It is also noticed that the dielectric constant (ε′) of the samples found to decrease with increasing frequency but increases with increasing temperature up to a particular value and then sharply decreases. Temperature variation of dielectric constant exhibits step like escalation and shows relaxation behavior. Study of dielectric properties shows dominant dependence on the grain size as well as Co ion incorporation in TiO 2

Fabrication and Characteristics of Macroporous TiO2 Photocatalyst

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guiyun Yi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Macroporous TiO2 photocatalyst was synthesized by a facile nanocasting method using polystyrene (PS spherical particles as the hard template. The synthesized photocatalyst was characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM, scanning electron microscopy (SEM, thermogravimetry-differential thermogravimetry (TG-DTG, X-ray diffraction (XRD, and N2-sorption. TEM, SEM, and XRD characterizations confirmed that the macroporous TiO2 photocatalyst is composed of anatase phase. The high specific surface area of 87.85 m2/g can be achieved according to the N2-sorption analysis. Rhodamine B (RhB was chosen as probe molecule to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 catalysts. Compared with the TiO2 materials synthesized in the absence of PS spherical template, the macroporous TiO2 photocatalyst sintered at 500°C exhibits much higher activity on the degradation of RhB under the UV irradiation, which can be assigned to the well-structured macroporosity. The macroporous TiO2 material presents great potential in the fields of environmental remediation and energy conversion and storage.

Ultrafine titanium dioxide particles in the absence of photoactivation can induce oxidative damage to human bronchial epithelial cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurr, J.-R.; Wang, Alexander S.S.; Chen, C.-H.; Jan, K.-Y.

2005-01-01

Ultrafine titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) particles have been shown to exhibit strong cytotoxicity when exposed to UVA radiation, but are regarded as a biocompatible material in the absence of photoactivation. In contrast to this concept, the present results indicate that anatase-sized (10 and 20 nm) TiO 2 particles in the absence of photoactivation induced oxidative DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, and micronuclei formation, and increased hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide production in BEAS-2B cells, a human bronchial epithelial cell line. However, the treatment with anatase-sized (200 and >200 nm) particles did not induce oxidative stress in the absence of light irradiation; it seems that the smaller the particle, the easier it is for the particle to induce oxidative damage. The photocatalytic activity of the anatase form of TiO 2 was reported to be higher than that of the rutile form. In contrast to this notion, the present results indicate that rutile-sized 200 nm particles induced hydrogen peroxide and oxidative DNA damage in the absence of light but the anatase-sized 200 nm particles did not. In total darkness, a slightly higher level of oxidative DNA damage was also detected with treatment using an anatase-rutile mixture than with treatment using either the anatase or rutile forms alone. These results suggest that intratracheal instillation of ultrafine TiO 2 particles may cause an inflammatory response

Gold and TiO2 Nanostructure Surfaces for Assembling of Electrochemical Biosensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curulli, A.; Zane, D.

2008-01-01

Devices based on nano materials are emerging as a powerful and general class of ultrasensitive sensors for the direct detection of biological and chemical species. In this work, we report the preparation and the full characterization of nano materials such as gold nano wires and TiO 2 nano structured films to be used for assembling of electrochemical biosensors. Gold nano wires were prepared by electroless deposition within the pores of polycarbonate particle track-etched membranes (PMS). Glucose oxidase was deposited onto the nano wires using self-assembling monolayer as an anchor layer for the enzyme molecules. Finally, cyclic voltammetry was performed for different enzymes to test the applicability of gold nano wires as biosensors. Considering another interesting nano material, the realization of functionalized TiO 2 thin films on Si substrates for the immobilization of enzymes is reported. Glucose oxidase and horseradish peroxidase immobilized onto TiO 2 -based nano structured surfaces exhibited a pair of well-defined and quasi reversible voltammetric peaks. The electron exchange between the enzyme and the electrodes was greatly enhanced in the TiO 2 nano structured environment. The electrocatalytic activity of HRP and GOD embedded in TiO 2 electrodes toward H 2 O 2 and glucose, respectively, may have a potential perspective in the fabrication of third-generation biosensors based on direct electrochemistry of enzymes.

Preparation of TiO2/Ag colloids with ultraviolet resistance and antibacterial property using short chain polyethylene glycol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su, W.; Wei, S.S.; Hu, S.Q.; Tang, J.X.

2009-01-01

TiO 2 /Ag nano-antibacterial material was prepared at low temperature using polyethylene glycol (PEG-600) as reducing and stabilizing agent. The size and shape as well as the optical properties of the nano-materials were characterized with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-vis spectroscopy (UV-vis). The results showed that the average particle size of TiO 2 among these nano-materials was around 50-150 nm, and the average particle size of nano-silver was around 20 nm. Formation of Ag nano-particles on the surface of TiO 2 was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the antibacterial activity was also investigated. By the antibacterial activity study and ultraviolet resistance test, it is noted that growth inhibition rates against E. coli was 99.99% as the concentration of nano-particles dispersion solution was 10 ppm, the minimum UV protective effect could be achieved as the concentration was 290 ppm.

TiO2-anatase modified by carbon as the photo catalyst under visible light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morawski, A.W.; Janus, M.; Tryba, B.; Kalucki, K.; Tryba, B.; Inagaki, M.

2006-01-01

The photo-catalytic oxidation of phenol in water under a visible light over anatase-type titanium dioxide (Tytanpol A11, Poland), modified by carbon deposited via n-hexane carbonization, was investigated. The catalysts, which had small (0-0.2 mass%) and high (0.69-0.85 mass%) contents of carbon showed a little lower catalytic photo-activity than pristine TiO 2 . However, the catalyst with high content of carbon (0.85 mass%) gave almost 14-times lower turbidity in the phenol solution after the photo-catalyst sedimentation. These two factors depend on the carbon content and have an influence on the 'practical efficiency' of the catalysts. The 'practical efficiency' of the catalyst under visible light, calculated from these two factors, was therefore 14-times higher for the catalyst containing 0.85 mass% carbon (whereas for UV radiation, it was found to be lower - 0.2 mass% -; this is the result of a previous work). The surface modification of the catalyst with 0.85% carbon seemed to be stable under visible light. The deposition of carbon on TiO 2 by carbonization of n-hexane was supposed to lead to obtain the catalyst, which could be easily used in a water-treatment system under visible light. (authors)

Reflectance spectroscopy from TiO2 particles embedded in polyurethane

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gudla, Visweswara Chakravarthy; Canulescu, Stela; Johansen, Villads Egede

2013-01-01

This paper presents the results of a physical simulation carried out using TiO2-Polyurethane composite coating on bright aluminium surface to understand the light scattering effect for designing white surfaces. Polyurethane matrix is selected due to the matching refractive index (1.7) with Al2O3...... layer on anodized aluminium surfaces. Three different TiO2 particle distributions were dispersed in polyurethane and spin coated onto high gloss and caustic etched aluminium substrates. Reflectance spectra of TiO2-polyurethane films of various concentrations were analysed using an integrating sphere....... The results show that the TiO2-polyurethane coatings have a high diffuse reflectance as a result of multiple scattering from TiO2 particles. Diffuse reflectance spectra of TiO2 containing films vary weakly with particle concentration and reach a steady state value at a concentration of 0.75 wt.%. Using...

When Anatase Nanoparticles Become Bulklike: Properties of Realistic TiO2 Nanoparticles in the 1-6 nm Size Range from All Electron Relativistic Density Functional Theory Based Calculations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamiel-Garcia, Oriol; Ko, Kyoung Chul; Lee, Jin Yong; Bromley, Stefan T; Illas, Francesc

2017-04-11

All electron relativistic density functional theory (DFT) based calculations using numerical atom-centered orbitals have been carried out to explore the relative stability, atomic, and electronic structure of a series of stoichiometric TiO 2 anatase nanoparticles explicitly containing up to 1365 atoms as a function of size and morphology. The nanoparticles under scrutiny exhibit octahedral or truncated octahedral structures and span the 1-6 nm diameter size range. Initial structures were obtained using the Wulff construction, thus exhibiting the most stable (101) and (001) anatase surfaces. Final structures were obtained from geometry optimization with full relaxation of all structural parameters using both generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and hybrid density functionals. Results show that, for nanoparticles of a similar size, octahedral and truncated octahedral morphologies have comparable energetic stabilities. The electronic structure properties exhibit a clear trend converging to the bulk values as the size of the nanoparticles increases but with a marked influence of the density functional employed. Our results suggest that electronic structure properties, and hence reactivity, for the largest anatase nanoparticles considered in this study will be similar to those exhibited by even larger mesoscale particles or by bulk systems. Finally, we present compelling evidence that anatase nanoparticles become effectively bulklike when reaching a size of ∼20 nm diameter.

Efficient silver modification of TiO2 nanotubes with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jing; Ding, Lei; Xi, Yaoning; Shi, Liang; Su, Ge; Gao, Rongjie; Wang, Wei; Dong, Bohua; Cao, Lixin

2018-06-01

In this paper, Ag(CH3NH2)2+, Ag(NH3)2+ and Ag+ with different radii have been used as silver sources to find out the distribution of Ag ions on the H-TNT surface, which is critical to the final performance. The influence of this distribution on visible photocatalytic activity is further studied. The results indicate that, when Ag+ used as silver source with low concentration, these small sized silver ions mainly distribute on interlayer spacing of H-TNT. After heat-treatment and photo-reduction, the generated silver nanoparticles uniformly embed in the anatase TiO2 nanotube walls, and bring large interfacial area between Ag particles and TiO2 nanotubes. The separation effect of photogenerated electron-hole pair in TiO2 is enhanced by Ag particles, and achieves the best at 0.15 g/L, much higher than P25, TiO2/0, Ag-N@TiO2 and Ag-C-N@TiO2. This paper provides new ideas for the modification of TiO2 nanotubes.

First-Principles Modeling of Polaron Formation in TiO2 Polymorphs.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmaslmane, A R; Watkins, M B; McKenna, K P

2018-06-21

We present a computationally efficient and predictive methodology for modeling the formation and properties of electron and hole polarons in solids. Through a nonempirical and self-consistent optimization of the fraction of Hartree-Fock exchange (α) in a hybrid functional, we ensure the generalized Koopmans' condition is satisfied and self-interaction error is minimized. The approach is applied to model polaron formation in known stable and metastable phases of TiO 2 including anatase, rutile, brookite, TiO 2 (H), TiO 2 (R), and TiO 2 (B). Electron polarons are predicted to form in rutile, TiO 2 (H), and TiO 2 (R) (with trapping energies ranging from -0.02 eV to -0.35 eV). In rutile the electron localizes on a single Ti ion, whereas in TiO 2 (H) and TiO 2 (R) the electron is distributed across two neighboring Ti sites. Hole polarons are predicted to form in anatase, brookite, TiO 2 (H), TiO 2 (R), and TiO 2 (B) (with trapping energies ranging from -0.16 eV to -0.52 eV). In anatase, brookite, and TiO 2 (B) holes localize on a single O ion, whereas in TiO 2 (H) and TiO 2 (R) holes can also be distributed across two O sites. We find that the optimized α has a degree of transferability across the phases, with α = 0.115 describing all phases well. We also note the approach yields accurate band gaps, with anatase, rutile, and brookite within six percent of experimental values. We conclude our study with a comparison of the alignment of polaron charge transition levels across the different phases. Since the approach we describe is only two to three times more expensive than a standard density functional theory calculation, it is ideally suited to model charge trapping at complex defects (such as surfaces and interfaces) in a range of materials relevant for technological applications but previously inaccessible to predictive modeling.

Room temperature growth of nanocrystalline anatase TiO2 thin films by dc magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Preetam; Kaur, Davinder

2010-01-01

We report, the structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline anatase TiO 2 thin films grown on glass substrate by dc magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The influence of sputtering power and pressure over crystallinity and surface morphology of the films were investigated. It was observed that increase in sputtering power activates the TiO 2 film growth from relative lower surface free energy to higher surface free energy. XRD pattern revealed the change in preferred orientation from (1 0 1) to (0 0 4) with increase in sputtering power, which is accounted for different surface energy associated with different planes. Microstructure of the films also changes from cauliflower type to columnar type structures with increase in sputtering power. FESEM images of films grown at low pressure and low sputtering power showed typical cauliflower like structure. The optical measurement revealed the systematic variation of the optical constants with deposition parameters. The films are highly transparent with transmission higher than 90% with sharp ultraviolet cut off. The transmittance of these films was found to be influenced by the surface roughness and film thickness. The optical band gap was found to decrease with increase in the sputtering power and pressure. The refractive index of the films was found to vary in the range of 2.50-2.24 with increase in sputtering pressure or sputtering power, resulting in the possibility of producing TiO 2 films for device applications with different refractive index, by changing the deposition parameters.

Structural, Morphological and Optical Characterization of Eu3+ and Nd3+ Co-Doped Tio2 Nano Particles by Sol Gel Method

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P. Sanjay

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Semiconductor nano crystals have been widely studied for their fundamental properties. The Eu3+ and Nd3+ doped titanium dioxide nano powder was successfully synthesized by sol-gel method. The morphological and structural properties of as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD, High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM. The Powder X- ray diffraction is carried out in order to examine the phase formation and substitution of Eu3+ and Nd3+ doped in TiO2 matrix. The UV-Vis spectral analysis was carried out between 200 nm and 1200 nm. The band gap of the Eu3+ and Nd3+ doped Tio2 nanoparticles was calculated. The functional groups of the synthesized compound have been identified by FTIR spectral analysis. The strong PL intensity confirms a blue shift.

1D TiO2 Nanostructures Prepared from Seeds Presenting Tailored TiO2 Crystalline Phases and Their Photocatalytic Activity for Escherichia coli in Water

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Julieta Cabrera

2018-01-01

Full Text Available TiO2 nanotubes were synthesized by alkaline hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 nanoparticles with a controlled proportion of anatase and rutile. Tailoring of TiO2 phases was achieved by adjusting the pH and type of acid used in the hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide (first step in the sol-gel synthesis. The anatase proportion in the precursor nanoparticles was in the 3–100% range. Tube-like nanostructures were obtained with an anatase percentage of 18 or higher while flake-like shapes were obtained when rutile was dominant in the seed. After annealing at 400°C for 2 h, a fraction of nanotubes was conserved in all the samples but, depending on the anatase/rutile ratio in the starting material, spherical and rod-shaped structures were also observed. The photocatalytic activity of 1D nanostructures was evaluated by measuring the deactivation of E. coli in stirred water in the dark and under UV-A/B irradiation. Results show that in addition to the bactericidal activity of TiO2 under UV-A illumination, under dark conditions, the decrease in bacteria viability is ascribed to mechanical stress due to stirring.

Preparation of micro/nanostructure TiO2 spheres by controlling pollen as hard template and soft template.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaohui; Xu, Bin; Zhang, Xuehong; Song, Xiuqin; Chen, Rufen

2014-09-01

In this paper, micro/nanostructure TiO2 spheres were synthesized by a sunflower pollen induced and self-assembly mineralization process, in which a titania precursor and pollen reacted in one-pot at normal pressure. In this paper, the bio-template advantage, as hard and soft template is fully demonstrated. The superiority of our synthesis is that we not only can control pollen as hard template, but also can control it as soft template only by changing reactions temperature. Under 80 degrees C of water bath, TiO2 microspheres which replicated the morphology of pollen were prepared by controlling pollen as hard template. Under 100 degrees C, hierarchical TiO2 spheres with complicated morphology, different from pollen template, were synthesized by using pollen as soft template. At the same time, judicious choice of the amount of pollen affords the synthesis of hierarchical structures spheres with adjustable morphology and crystal structure. The morphology can be tuned from microspheres constructed from TiO2 nanorods to nanospheres constructed from TiO2 nanoparticles, and the crystal structure can be tuned from rutile to anatase. More over this anatase phase can be keep better even at high temperature of 1000 degrees C. The as-prepared micro/nano structure photocatalysts not only have high photocatalytic activities, but also have good separability and reuse performance.

Photocatalytic mechanism of high-activity anatase TiO2 with exposed (001) facets from molecular-atomic scale: HRTEM and Raman studies

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jun; Shi, Chentian; Zhang, Yupeng; Fu, Qiang; Pan, Chunxu

2017-12-01

Anatase TiO2 with a variant percentage of exposed (001) facets was prepared under hydrothermal processes by adjusting the volume of HF, and the photocatalytic mechanism was studied from atomic-molecular scale by HRTEM and Raman spectroscopy. It was revealed that: 1) From HRTEM observations, the surface of original TiO2 with exposed (001) facets was clean without impurity, and the crystal lattice was clear and completed; however, when mixed with methylene blue (MB) solution, there were many 1 nm molecular absorbed at the surface of TiO2; after the photocatalytic experiment, MB molecules disappeared and the TiO2 lattice image became fuzzy. 2) The broken path of the MB chemical bond was obtained by Raman spectroscopy, i.e., after the irradiation of the light, the vibrational mode of C-N-C disappeared due to the chemical bond breakage, and the groups containing C-N bond and carbon rings were gradually decomposed. Accordingly, we propose that the driving force for breaking the chemical bond and the disappearance of groups is from the surface lattice distortion of TiO2 during photocatalyzation.

Enhanced visible-light activities for PEC water reduction of CuO nanoplates by coupling with anatase TiO2 and mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Zhijun; Qu, Yang; He, Guangwen; Humayun, Muhammad; Chen, Shuangying; Jing, Liqiang

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • CuO nanoplates were successfully prepared as photocathodes for PEC water reduction. • Visible-light activity for PEC water reduction is improved after coupling with TiO 2 . • Improved PEC performance is attributed to the enhanced visible-excited charge separation. • Enhanced charge separation results from high-energy electron transfer from CuO to TiO 2 . - Abstract: CuO nanoplates were prepared by a feasible hydrothermal method, and then utilized as photocathodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water reduction in a neutral medium under visible-light irradiation. It is clearly demonstrated that the visible-light activities of the resulting nanoplates for PEC water reduction could be greatly improved after coupling with a proper amount of nanocrystalline anatase TiO 2 . This is attributed to the enhanced charge separation in the fabricated TiO 2 /CuO nanoplate composites mainly based on the atmosphere-controlled steady-state surface photovoltage spectra. Moreover, it is suggested that the enhanced charge separation resulted from the transfer of visible-light-excited high-energy electrons from CuO to TiO 2 as confirmed from the single-wavelength PEC behavior

A theoretical investigation of the interaction of Immucillin-A with N-doped TiO2 anatase nanoparticles: Applications to nanobiosensors and nanocarriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amirali Abbasi

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Objective(s: Adsorption of IMMUCILLIN-A (BCX4430 molecule on the pristine and N-doped TiO2 anatase nanoparticles were studied using the density functional theory (DFT calculations. The adsorption energy analysis indicated that TiO2+IMMUCILLIN-A complexes including OC-substituted TiO2 have higher adsorption energy than the complexes with OT substituted TiO2, thus providing more stable configurations. Methods: The structural properties including bond lengths, adsorption energies and bond angles were analysed. The electronic structure of the adsorption system were investigated in view of the density of states, molecular orbitals and Mulliken charge analysis.Results: The results show that, the interaction of IMMUCILLIN-A drug with N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles is more energetically favorable than the interaction with the pristine ones, suggesting that the N-doped nanoparticles can react with IMMUCILLIN-A drug more efficiently. The Mulliken charge analysis also suggests a charge transfer from IMMUCILLIN-A molecule to the TiO2 nanoparticle.Conclusions: Based on obtained results, it can be concluded that the N-doped TiO2 nanoparticle could be utilized as an efficient candidate for application as highly sensitive nanobiosensors and efficient nanocarriers for IMMUCILLIN-A drugs.

Co3O4/TiO2 films obtained by laser ablation and sol-gel for the reaction of oxygen liberation in alkaline medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez A, J.; Fernandez V, S. M.; Escobar A, L.; Jimenez B, J.

2008-01-01

The laser ablation technique known as Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is used for obtaining thin films of TiO 2 /SnO 2 , which was later modified with Co 3 O 4 by PLD or by sol-gel technique. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet Vis and Raman spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy and energy analysis of the dispersed X-rays produced by Auger decay. The anatase phase with particles of nano metric size was obtained by depositing the titanium dioxide in argon atmosphere. The Co 3 O 4 films obtained by PLD on the TiO 2 showed the same morphology. The electrocatalytic activity of the films that were used as photo anodes for the reaction of oxygen liberation was carried out in the darkness, with environment light and the light emitted by a xenon lamp. The current density was higher for films of Co 3 O 4 /TiO 2 /SnO 2 obtained by PLD that for cobalt dioxide of mixed valence obtained by sol-gel. (Author)

Room temperature one-step synthesis of microarrays of N-doped flower-like anatase TiO2 composed of well-defined multilayer nanoflakes by Ti anodization

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chenglin; Wang, Mengye; Xie, Kunpeng; Wu, Qi; Sun, Lan; Lin, Zhiqun; Lin, Changjian

2011-07-01

Microarrays of N-doped flower-like TiO2 composed of well-defined multilayer nanoflakes were synthesized at room temperature by electrochemical anodization of Ti in NH4F aqueous solution. The TiO2 flowers were of good anatase crystallinity. The effects of anodizing time, applied voltage and NH4F concentration on the flower-like morphology were systematically examined. It was found that the morphologies of the anodized Ti were related to the anodizing time and NH4F concentration. The size and density of the TiO2 flowers could be tuned by changing the applied voltage. The obtained N-doped flower-like TiO2 microarrays exhibited intense absorption in wavelengths ranging from 320 to 800 nm. Under both UV and visible light irradiation, the photocatalytic activity of the N-doped flower-like TiO2 microarrays in the oxidation of methyl orange showed a significant increase compared with that of commercial P25 TiO2 film.

Characterization of manufactured TiO2 nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Motzkus, C.; Macé, T.; Vaslin-Reimann, S.; Ausset, P.; Maillé, M.

2013-04-01

Technological advances in nanomaterials have allowed the development of new applications in industry, increasing the probability of finding airborne manufactured and engineered nano-objects in the workplace, as well as in ambient air. Scientific studies on health and environmental risks have indicated that airborne nano-objects in ambient air have potential adverse effects on the health of exposed workers and the general population. For regulatory purposes, ambient measurements of particulate matter are based on the determination of mass concentrations for PM10 and PM2.5, as regulated in the European Directive 2008/50/EC. However, this legislation is not suitable for airborne manufactured and engineered nano-objects. Parameters characterising ultrafine particles, such as particle number concentration and size distribution, are under consideration for future health-based legislation, to monitor workplaces and to control industrial processes. Currently, there are no existing regulations covering manufactured airborne nano-objects. There is therefore a clear, unaddressed need to focus on the toxicology and exposure assessment of nano-objects such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), which are manufactured and engineered in large quantities in industry. To perform reliable toxicology studies it is necessary to determine the relevant characteristics of nano-objects, such as morphology, surface area, agglomeration, chemical composition, particle size and concentration, by applying traceable methods. Manufacturing of nanomaterials, and their use in industrial applications, also require traceable characterisation of the nanomaterials, particularly for quality control of the process. The present study arises from the OECD WPMN sponsorship programme, supported by the French Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), in order to develop analytical methods for the characterization of TiO2 nanoparticles in size and count size distribution, based on different

Characterization of manufactured TiO2 nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Motzkus, C; Macé, T; Vaslin-Reimann, S; Ausset, P; Maillé, M

2013-01-01

Technological advances in nanomaterials have allowed the development of new applications in industry, increasing the probability of finding airborne manufactured and engineered nano-objects in the workplace, as well as in ambient air. Scientific studies on health and environmental risks have indicated that airborne nano-objects in ambient air have potential adverse effects on the health of exposed workers and the general population. For regulatory purposes, ambient measurements of particulate matter are based on the determination of mass concentrations for PM10 and PM2.5, as regulated in the European Directive 2008/50/EC. However, this legislation is not suitable for airborne manufactured and engineered nano-objects. Parameters characterising ultrafine particles, such as particle number concentration and size distribution, are under consideration for future health-based legislation, to monitor workplaces and to control industrial processes. Currently, there are no existing regulations covering manufactured airborne nano-objects. There is therefore a clear, unaddressed need to focus on the toxicology and exposure assessment of nano-objects such as titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), which are manufactured and engineered in large quantities in industry. To perform reliable toxicology studies it is necessary to determine the relevant characteristics of nano-objects, such as morphology, surface area, agglomeration, chemical composition, particle size and concentration, by applying traceable methods. Manufacturing of nanomaterials, and their use in industrial applications, also require traceable characterisation of the nanomaterials, particularly for quality control of the process. The present study arises from the OECD WPMN sponsorship programme, supported by the French Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), in order to develop analytical methods for the characterization of TiO 2 nanoparticles in size and count size distribution, based on different

The Effect of SiO2 Shell on the Suppression of Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 and ZnO Nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Min Hee; Lee, Choon Soo; Patil, Umakant Mahadev; Kochuveedu, Saji Thomas

2012-01-01

In this study, we investigate the potential use of TiO 2 SiO 2 and ZnO SiO 2 core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) as effective UV shielding agent. In the typical synthesis, SiO 2 was coated over different types of TiO 2 (anatase and rutile) and ZnO by sol-gel method. The synthesized TiO 2 SiO 2 and ZnO SiO 2 Nps were characterized by UV-Vis, XRD, Sem and TEM. The UV-vis absorbance and transmittance spectra of core shell NPs showed an efficient blocking effect in the UV region and more than 90% transmittance in the visible region. XRD and SAED studies confirmed the formation of amorphous SiO 2 coated over the TiO 2 and ZnO NPs. The FESEM and TEM images shows that coating of SiO 2 over the surface of anatase, rutile TiO 2 and ZnO NPs resulted in the increase in particle size by ∼30 nm. In order to study the UV light shielding capability of the samples, photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye on TiO 2 SiO 2 and ZnO SiO 2 NPs was performed. Photocatalytic activity for both types of TiO 2 NPs was partially suppressed. In comparison, the photocatalytic activity of ZnO almost vanished after the SiO 2 coating

Cotton fabric coated with nano TiO2-acrylate copolymer for photocatalytic self-cleaning by in-situ suspension polymerization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Xue; Tian Xiuzhi; Gu Jian; Huang Dan; Yang Yiqi

2011-01-01

Two kinds of nano TiO 2 -polyacrylate hybrid dispersions, TBM-w and TBM-e were synthesized by in-situ suspension polymerization and solution polymerization respectively, in order to fix the nano TiO 2 on fabrics. The photocatalytic self-cleaning fabrics have received much attention in recent years for its water-saving and environment-protection advantages. However, the fixation of the photocatalyst on fabrics is still a key problem that inhibits industrialization of these eco-friendly fabrics. The cotton fabric was treated by the two hybrid dispersions. The photocatalytic self-cleaning property was characterized. Infrared spectroscopy, burning loss test and thermogravimetry showed that some copolymer chains entangled with the nano TiO 2 . Transmission electron microscope illustrated that there was a polymeric layer on the surface of nano TiO 2 . The average diameter of TBM-w was smaller than that of TBM-e based on size analysis. The photocatalytic decoloration of the grape syrup indicated that the fabric with TiO 2 -polymer hybrid had excellent self-cleaning property.

Photocatalytic Anatase TiO2 Thin Films on Polymer Optical Fiber Using Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Baba, Kamal; Bulou, Simon; Choquet, Patrick; Boscher, Nicolas D

2017-04-19

Due to the undeniable industrial advantages of low-temperature atmospheric-pressure plasma processes, such as low cost, low temperature, easy implementation, and in-line process capabilities, they have become the most promising next-generation candidate system for replacing thermal chemical vapor deposition or wet chemical processes for the deposition of functional coatings. In the work detailed in this article, photocatalytic anatase TiO 2 thin films were deposited at a low temperature on polymer optical fibers using an atmospheric-pressure plasma process. This method overcomes the challenge of forming crystalline transition metal oxide coatings on polymer substrates by using a dry and up-scalable method. The careful selection of the plasma source and the titanium precursor, i.e., titanium ethoxide with a short alkoxy group, allowed the deposition of well-adherent, dense, and crystalline TiO 2 coatings at low substrate temperature. Raman and XRD investigations showed that the addition of oxygen to the precursor's carrier gas resulted in a further increase of the film's crystallinity. Furthermore, the films deposited in the presence of oxygen exhibited a better photocatalytic activity toward methylene blue degradation assumedly due to their higher amount of photoactive {101} facets.

Enhanced photo-response of porous silicon photo-detectors by embeddingTitanium-dioxide nano-particles

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Hiba M.; Makki, Sameer A.; Abd, Ahmed N.

2018-05-01

Porous silicon (n-PS) films can be prepared by photoelectochemical etching (PECE) Silicon chips n - types with 15 (mA / cm2), in 15 minutes etching time on the fabrication nano-sized pore arrangement. By using X-ray diffraction measurement and atomic power microscopy characteristics (AFM), PS was investigated. It was also evaluated the crystallites size from (XRD) for the PS nanoscale. The atomic force microscopy confirmed the nano-metric size chemical fictionalization through the electrochemical etching that was shown on the PS surface chemical composition. The atomic power microscopy checks showed the roughness of the silicon surface. It is also notified (TiO2) preparation nano-particles that were prepared by pulse laser eradication in ethanol (PLAL) technique through irradiation with a Nd:YAG laser pulses TiO2 target that is sunk in methanol using 400 mJ of laser energy. It has been studied the structural, optical and morphological of TiO2NPs. It has been detected that through XRD measurement, (TiO2) NPs have been Tetragonal crystal structure. While with AFM measurements, it has been realized that the synthesized TiO2 particles are spherical with an average particle size in the (82 nm) range. It has been determined that the energy band gap of TiO2 NPs from optical properties and set to be in (5eV) range.The transmittance and reflectance spectra have determined the TiO2 NPs optical constants. It was reported the effectiveness of TiO2 NPs expansion on the PS Photodetector properties which exposes the benefits in (Al/PS/Si/Al). The built-in tension values depend on the etching time current density and laser flounce. Al/TiO2/PS/Si/Al photo-detector heterojunction have two response peaks that are situated at 350 nm and (700 -800nm) with max sensitivity ≈ 0.7 A/W. The maximum given detectivity is 9.38at ≈ 780 nm wavelength.

Facile one step synthesis of novel TiO2 nanocoral by sol-gel method using Aloe vera plant extract

Science.gov (United States)

Venkatesh, K. S.; Krishnamoorthi, S. R.; Palani, N. S.; Thirumal, V.; Jose, Sujin P.; Wang, Fu-Ming; Ilangovan, R.

2015-05-01

Titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by sol gel method using Aloe vera plant extract as a biological capping agent and a cauliflower-nanocoral morphology was observed in this technique. The assynthesized TiO2 nanopowder was calcined at a range of temperatures (300-600 °C) for 1 h. The influence of A. vera plant extract on the thermal, structural and morphological properties of TiO2 nanopowder was evaluated. Thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis was employed to study the thermal properties of the assynthesized TiO2 nanopowder. The crystallinity, phase transformation and the crystallite size of the calcined samples were studied by X-ray diffraction technique. XRD result confirmed the presence of TiO2 with anatase phase. FT Raman spectra showed the Raman active modes pertaining to the TiO2 anatase phase and Raman band shift was also observed with respect to particle size variation. The different functional group vibrations of as dried pure A. vera plant extract were compared with the mixture of TiO2 and A. vera plant extract by FT-IR analysis. The scanning electron microscopy images apparently showed the formation of spherical shaped NPs and also it demonstrated the effect of A. vera plant extract on the reduction of particles size. The surface area of the TiO2 NPs was measured through Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. Transmission electron microscopy images ascertained that the spherical shaped TiO2 NPs were formed with cauliflower-nanocoral morphology decorated with nanopolyps with the size range between 15 and 30 nm.

Positively charged TiO2 particles in non-polar system for electrophoretic display

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Young Seon

2005-02-01

Electrophoretic display uses a technique called electrophoresis to represent images and letters electronically with electronic ink. Although it has good characteristics such as wide viewing angle, high contrast ratio and extremely low power consumption, there are still several issues to be resolved to improve its performances. Higher mobility and stability of the ink particles are the most important issues among them. In this study, TiO 2 particles coated with acrylamide were found to be effective ink particles that satisfy higher mobility and stability. The TiO 2 particles coated with 5∼40% acrylamide were prepared by dispersion polymerization using monomers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and acrylamide. The TiO 2 particles coated with acrylamide were dispersed in isopar-G with sorbitan esters such as span 20, span 80 and span 85. The size of the TiO 2 particles were changed from 200±150 nm to 350∼500 nm by the coating process. The morphology of coated particles was observed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). From the TGA results, the weight fraction of TiO 2 and polymer in coated particle were calculated. From the zeta potential measurement, it was shown that as acrylamide concentration was increased from 5% to 30%, zeta potential of the coated TiO 2 particles was increased from 50mV to about 230mV. The zeta potential of the coated TiO 2 particles with 40% acrylamide was decreased to 50mV. As a stabilizer, span 85 was the most effective surfactant to improve stability of the TiO 2 particles coated with acrylamide among used surfactants in this study. Span 85 showed best stability in the storage test with TiO 2 particles coated with 10% acrylamide. The mobility of TiO 2 particles coated with acrylamide with span 85 in dye solution (Oil Blue-N dissolved in isopar-G) were measured by ITO cell test. The mobility of TiO 2 particles coated with 10∼30% acrylamide was over 600μm 2 /Vs while the mobility of TiO 2

Photocatalytic Hydrogen or Oxygen Evolution from Water over S- or N-Doped TiO2 under Visible Light

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Kazumoto Nishijima

2008-01-01

Full Text Available S- or N-doping of TiO2 powder having an anatase or rutile phase extended the photocatalytic activity for water oxidation and reduction under UV light and visible light irradiation. For the reduction of water, anatase-doped TiO2 showed higher level of activity than that of doped TiO2 having a rutile phase using ethanol as an electron donor. Furthermore, the activity level of S-doped TiO2 for hydrogen evolution was higher than that of N-doped TiO2 photocatalysts under visible light. Photocatalytic oxidation of water on doped TiO2 having a rutile phase proceeded with fairly high efficiency when Fe3+ ions were used as electron acceptors compared to that on doped TiO2 having an anatase phase. In addition, water splitting under visible light irradiation was achieved by construction of a Z-scheme photocatalysis system employing the doped TiO2 having anatase and rutile phases for H2 and O2 evolution and the I−/IO3− redox couple as an electron relay.

Exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles increases Staphylococcusaureusinfection of HeLa cells

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yan; Wei, Ming-Tzo; Walker, Stephen. G.; Wang, Hong Zhan; Gondon, Chris; Brink, Peter; Guterman, Shoshana; Zawacki, Emma; Applebaum, Eliana; Rafailovich, Miriam; Ou-Yang, H. Daniel; Mironava, Tatsiana

TiO2 is one of the most common nanoparticles in industry from food additives to energy generation. Even though TiO2 is also used as an anti-bacterial agent in combination with UV, we found that, in the absence of UV, exposure of HeLa cells to TiO2 nanoparticles largely increased their risk of bacterial invasion. HeLa cells cultured with low dosage rutile and anatase TiO2 nanoparticles (0.1 mg/ml) for 24 hrs prior to exposure to bacteria had 350% and 250% respectively more bacteria infected per cell. The increase was attributed to increased LDH leakage, and changes in the mechanical response of the cell membrane. On the other hand, macrophages exposed to TiO2 particles ingested 40% fewer bacteria, further increasing the risk of infection. In combination, these two factors raise serious concerns regarding the impact of exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles on the ability of organisms to resist bacterial infection.

Digital selective fabrication of micro/nano-composite structured TiO2 nanorod arrays by laser direct writing