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Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by flowerlike rutile-phase TiO2 film grown via hydrothermal method

  • Original Paper: Nano-structured materials (particles, fibers, colloids, composites, etc.)
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Abstract

This paper presents the effects of operating parameters on the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using flowerlike rutile-phase TiO2 films synthesised by a hydrothermal method. The findings show that numerous parameters such as the catalyst morphology, the presence of oxygen vacancy/Ti3+ surface defects, initial pH of methylene blue solution, active species, and initial concentration of methylene blue influence the photocatalytic degradation of the dye. Based on the results obtained, the presence of oxygen vacancy/Ti3+ surface defects act as an electron trap that helps generate more electrons and holes, which contributes to the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 film. This study reveals that the optimum concentration of Ti precursor was obtained at 0.10 M, which produced a flowerlike morphology with pristine rutile-phase that reached 42% methylene blue dye degradation. The effectiveness of the optimised film was boosted by 18% degradation by adjusting the initial pH of the methylene blue solution to 12. Under such conditions, the enhancement of the electrostatic attraction between the negatively charged TiO2 and the methylene blue molecules improved the degradation. No severe deactivation of the catalyst was found even after five photocatalysis reaction cycles. This study also demonstrates that there are multiple parameters involved in optimising the photocatalytic activity of TiO2.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education for the financial support under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) number: FRGS/1/2020/STG05/UTHM/02/4. The authors would also like to thank the Centre for Instrumental Analysis, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan for the characterisation equipment.

Author contribution

N.K.A.H.: investigation and writing—original draft. M.K.A.: conceptualisation and supervision. N.H.H.H.: formal analysis and validation. A.B.F.: writing—review and editing and resources. A.B.S. and S.M.M.: conceptualisation and methodology. M.H.M.: writing—review and editing, and validation. M.S.: conceptualisation and supervision. F.I.M.F.: conceptualisation. A.M.: writing—editing. A.M.: validation. M.F.M.S.: writing—review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microelectronic and Nanotechnology–Shamsuddin Research Centre (MiNT-SRC), Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja, 86400, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia

    N. K. A. Hamed, M. K. Ahmad, C. F. Soon, F. I. M. Fazli & S. M. Mokhtar

  2. Faculty of Engineering Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja, 86400, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia

    N. H. H. Hairom

  3. Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology, Pagoh Campus, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 84600, Muar, Johor, Malaysia

    A. B. Faridah

  4. Nano-Electronic Centre, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara, 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    M. H. Mamat

  5. Nanotechnology Research Centre, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900, Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia

    A. Mohamed & A. B. Suriani

  6. Department of Engineering, Graduate School of Integrated Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 432-8011, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan

    S. M. Mokhtar & M. Shimomura

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  1. N. K. A. Hamed
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Hamed, N.K.A., Ahmad, M.K., Hairom, N.H.H. et al. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by flowerlike rutile-phase TiO2 film grown via hydrothermal method. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 102, 637–648 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05691-y

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