Remediation of Wastewater with Ultraviolet Irradiation Using a Novel Titanium (IV) Oxide Photocatalyst

Abstract

Photocatalysis has become common and nanomaterials having photocatalytic functions have been widely characterized. At present, among the many candidates for photocatalysis, TiO₂ is almost the only material suitable for industrial use. In this paper, we present a TiO₂ synthesis starting from Ti sheets put in contact with a mixture of 0.1 N NaOH and acetone for 72 hours under ambient conditions. The obtained sheets were washed with distilled water and ethanol, and the surface was analyzed for its structural and morphological properties. Thus, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations indicated the formation of TiO₂ on the edges of nanometer circles on the surface of the Ti sheets. For characterizing the photocatalytic capacity for wastewater treatment, Ti sheets with TiO₂ on the surface contacted with methylene blue solutions at room temperature under ultraviolet light. The degradation of the methylene blue concentration was measured by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, demonstrating 99.94% efficiency for wastewater treatment using the obtained material.

Keywords:

• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
• spectrophotometry
• titanium (IV) oxide catalyst
• wastewater
• X-ray diffraction (XRD)