Photocatalytic TiO2 Nanoparticles Activated by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Assisted Ball Milling

Developing defects on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles by mechanical treatment is a fascinating approach to enhance photocatalytic efficiency. However, it poses risks to producing bulk defects and phase transformation, which seriously deteriorates photocatalytic performance. Here, activating TiO2 nanoparticles was elaborately fulfilled by using dielectric barrier discharge plasma assisted ball milling (DBDP-milling) as it imposes plasma to nano-scaled particles along with soft mechanical impact. The evolution of surface properties of TiO2 nanoparticles with DBDP-milling durations was inspected using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), while the morphology and structure were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Results showed that DBDP-milling developed a considerable number of oxygen vacancies in TiO2 nanoparticles as well as bulk defects free. These TiO2 nanoparticles formed agglomerates with BET surface area of 37.40 m(2)/g and exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency.