Open AccessSynthesis of Nanoporous TiO2 Thin Films for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue
Author(s) -
M. Estrada,
Carmen Reza,
J. Salmones,
J.A. Wang,
Ma. Manríquez,
J. M. Mora,
Martha L. Hernández,
Arturo Zuñiga,
J. L. Contreras
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of new materials for electrochemical systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.496
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1480-2430
pISSN - 1480-2422
DOI - 10.14447/jnmes.v17i1.439
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , nanoporous , anatase , methylene blue , thin film , materials science , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , chemical engineering , scanning electron microscope , anodizing , tetragonal crystal system , nanocrystalline material , nanotechnology , phase (matter) , chemistry , composite material , catalysis , organic chemistry , aluminium , engineering
This work reports a structure and photocatalytic activity of nanoporous titania (TiO2) thin films by an anodizing approach. Xray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies showed that tetragonal anatase was the main phase in the thin films that consisted of countless disordered nanopores in the order of 10 to 15 nm. In the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue, the titania thin films showed a good photocatalytic activity. 82.2 % methylene blue could be photodegraded by titania thin films with UV radiation. XPS results indicate that during the degradation of methylene blue, some Ti3+ may be partially oxidized to Ti4+ in the TiO2 films and the surface hydroxyls directly participate in the reaction. Our nanoporous titania thin films is commensurable to Degussa-25 TiO2 powders because the latter requires filtration in each treatment; it is also much superior to the direct photolysis approach with respect to photoactivity.