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Tunable synthesis of enhanced photodegradation activity of brookite/anatase mixed-phase titanium dioxide

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Abstract

Using titanium sulfate, Ti(SO4)2, as precursor and sodium hydroxide, NaOH, as adjusting reagent, pure brookite, pure anatase, and mixed-phase titanium dioxide (TiO2) with tunable brookite/anatase ratios were synthesized via a hydrothermal process. The samples were characterized by x-ray diffractionspectrometry, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurement. Photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B in aqueous solution served as a probe reaction to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared nanocomposites under visible irradiation (λ > 400 nm). The mixed-phase TiO2 exhibits higher photodegradation activity than single phase TiO2. The sample with 63.1% brookite and 36.9% anatase shows the highest degradation activity. Possible mechanism attributing to the enhanced activity was proposed based on the strucutre and surface property of the samples.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21003065), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK2010166), and Industry High Technology Foundation of Jiangsu (BE2010144).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

    Xiaomeng Lü, Danjun Mao, Xiaojun Wei, Hui Zhang, Jimin Xie & Wei Wei

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  1. Xiaomeng Lü
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  2. Danjun Mao
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  3. Xiaojun Wei
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  4. Hui Zhang
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  5. Jimin Xie
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  6. Wei Wei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jimin Xie.

Appendix

Appendix

Supplementary materials can be viewed in this issue of the Journal of Materials Research by visiting u]http://journals.cambridge.org/jmr.

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Lü, X., Mao, D., Wei, X. et al. Tunable synthesis of enhanced photodegradation activity of brookite/anatase mixed-phase titanium dioxide. Journal of Materials Research 28, 400–404 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.226

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.226

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