Impact of TiO2 Nanotubes' Morphology on the Photocatalytic Degradation of Simazine Pollutant.

There are various approaches to enhancing the catalytic properties of TiO2, including modifying its morphology by altering the surface reactivity and surface area of the catalyst. In this study, the primary aim is to enhance the photocatalytic activity by changing the TiO2 nanotubes' architecture. The highly ordered infrastructure is favorable for a better charge carrier transfer. It is well known that anodization affects TiO2 nanotubes' structure by increasing the anodization duration which in turn influence the photocatalytic activity. The characterizations were conducted by FE-SEM (fiend emission scanning electron microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction), RAMAN (Raman spectroscopy), EDX (Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), UV-Vis (Ultraviolet visible spectroscopy) and LCMS/MS/MS (liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy). We found that the morphological structure is affected by the anodization duration according to FE-SEM. The photocatalytic degradation shows a photodegradation rate of k = 0.0104 min-1. It is also found that a mineralization of Simazine by our prepared TiO2 nanotubes leads to the formation of cyanuric acid. We propose three Simazine photodegradation pathways with several intermediates identified.

Controlled acid catalyzed sol gel for the synthesis of highly active TiO2-chitosan nanocomposite and its corresponding photocatalytic activity.

For the synthesis of a highly active TiO2-chitosan nanocomposite, pH plays a crucial role towards controlling its morphology, size, crystallinity, thermal stability, and surface adsorption properties. The presence of chitosan (CS) biopolymer facilitates greater sustainability to the photoexcited electrons and holes on the catalysts' surface. The variation of synthesis pH from 2 to 5 resulted in different physico-chemical and photocatalytic properties, whereby a pH of 3 resulted in TiO2-chitosan nanocomposite with the highest photocatalytic degradation (above 99 %) of methylene orange (MO) dye. This was attributed to the efficient surface absorption properties, high crystallinity, and the presence of reactive surfaces of -NH2 and -OH groups, which enhances the adsorption-photodegradation effect. The larger surface oxygen vacancies coupled with reduced electron-hole recombination further enhanced the photocatalytic activity. It is undeniable that the pH during synthesis is critical towards the development of the properties of the TiO2-chitosan nanocomposite for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity.