Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye by TiO2 Nanotubes Photocatalyst Synthesized via Alkaline Hydrothermal Method

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes have successfully been synthesized by using one step approach of hydrothermal method. Commercial TiO2 (anatase) powder was used as precursor to synthesize the TiO2 nanotubes. The TiO2 nanotubes were synthesized at 120 °C/20 hrs in an alkaline solution of NaOH. The photocatalytic study of the as-synthesized samples was conducted by analyzing the degradation of Rhodamine B (Rh B) dye under UV light irradiation. Rh B is a toxic dye which is commonly used in textile industry. It is the one of the most common pollutants in the effluents and highly soluble in water. A comparison study was carried out in order to investigate the photocatalytic activity between the synthesized TiO2 nanotubes and the commercial TiO2 nanoparticles. Results show that the TiO2 nanotubes exhibits better photocatalytic activity in the degradation of Rh B as compared to the TiO2 nanoparticles.