Highly active brookite titania nanoparticles for degradation of toxic organic pollutants

Abstract

The degradation of toxic organic pollutants in water bodies through affordable photocatalytic materials is vital in recent times, as their presence can greatly harm both the aquatic and human biospheres. In this regard, this study presents a cost-effective chemical precipitation method to synthesize highly active brookite titania nanoparticles, wherein, Ti(OBu)4, ethanol and de-ionized water are employed as the starting materials. Further, the effect of the pH of the media during the synthesis protocol on the developed microstructure and various physio-chemical and optical characteristics of the prepared nanoparticles is investigated to illustrate its effects on the degradation process. In the end, a correlation is made between various attributes such as crystallinity, particle size, surface area, pore size, surface charge, pore volume and optical band gap of these nanoparticles with the observed dye-degradation and anti-microbial characteristics. Moreover, a simple, cost-effective method for the preparation of brookite nanoparticles is illustrated here. Subsequently, these prepared nanoparticles are used to demonstrate dye-degradation and bactericidal characteristics, highlighting its potential for efficient pollutant breakdown.