Effect of amines on the peroxo-titanates and photoactivity of annealed TiO2

The aim of this study was to explore the influence of various n-propylamines (mono, di, and tri) and tert-butylamine on the properties of prepared peroxo-titanates and annealed TiO2. Detailed structural characterization (SEM, TEM with EDX, XRD) confirmed the 2D-foil morphology of TiO2 nanocrystals and the CHNS analysis together with XPS showed presence of carbon (under 1 wt%). The annealed TiO2 showed excellent photocatalytic activity and up to four times higher decomposition rate constant upon UV irradiation than the P25. Favourable growth of TiO2 crystals was observed especially when propylamine and tert-butylamine were used (as precursors for the peroxo-titanates). Increased photocatalytic efficiency of the highly crystalline nano-TiO2 was confirmed due to high-reactive anatase facets and the morphology composed of microsheets formed by interconnected nanocrystals. The photoinduced electron transfer was confirmed via EPR spectroscopy. This synthesis' procedure offers a novel preparation method of highly photoactive C-doped TiO2 achieved relatively easily after annealing of lyophilized amino-peroxo- titanate. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study investigated the influence of various n-propylamines and tert-butylamine on the properties of peroxo-titanates and annealed TiO2. The results showed that using propylamine and tert-butylamine as precursors for peroxo-titanates can promote favorable growth of TiO2 crystals and enhance photocatalytic efficiency.