%0 Journal Article
%T TiO2 Microwave Synthesis, Electrophoretic Deposition of Thin Film, and Photocatalytic Properties for Methylene Blue and Methyl Red Dyes
%A A. K. Singh
%A Umesh T. Nakate
%J ISRN Nanotechnology
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/326747
%X Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of TiO2 thin film was carried out at room temperature on low cost steel substrate using microwave synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) of TiO2. Synthesized NPs and EPD thin film were characterized at different stages of synthesis for its crystal structure, morphology, elemental analysis, and surface area. Spherical particle morphology and formation of TiO2 were confirmed by scanning electron micrograph (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Synthesized NPs were formed in anatase phase having crystallite size of about 12.3£¿nm from Scherrer's formula using full width half maxima (FWHM). Surface area was found to be 43.52£¿m2/g by BET giving particle size of 33£¿nm. Photocatalytic (PC) behavior of TiO2 NPs and EPD TiO2 film on steel substrate was investigated under UV light for two commercial dyes and their photocatalysis efficiency was analyzed. NPs have shown better efficiency for methylene blue (MB) dye than EPD film whereas EPD film have shown higher PC activity for methyl red (MR) dye. 1. Introduction TiO2 is one of the transition metal oxides, having excellent optical, electrical, PC properties [1, 2]. It is optically transparent, nontoxic, wide band gap, and sensitive to UV-radiations. Apart from high photoactivity, TiO2 is biologically and chemically inert, abundantly available, and cheap. TiO2, being very reactive with both light and water, exhibits exceptional resistance to corrosion and photocorrosion in aqueous environments. Therefore, TiO2 in water exhibits stable properties over a prolonged period of time. Other than PC activity, TiO2 finds applications in the fields of gas sensors, supercapacitors, cosmetics, and solar cells [3, 4]. Because of its strong UV light absorbance, TiO2 is applied as a sunscreen blocker. The applications of TiO2 also include self-cleaning coatings, hydrophilic coatings, and antifogging coatings. Under normal atmospheric conditions and UV-Vis light, organisms that are virulent and hard to be decomposed can be thoroughly oxidized to molecules, such as H2O and CO2 by using anatase TiO2 under UV irradiation. PC reaction in the presence of TiO2 consists of a free radical reaction initiated by absorption of the photon with energy equal to or greater than the band gap of TiO2. Charge separation, leading to enhanced concentration of electron and holes at the surface, results in a substantial increase of the oxidation power of TiO2 when immersed in water. Anatase TiO2 is the most widely explored material for PC applications due to its wide band gap, for example,
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.nanotechnology/2014/326747/