Photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline TiO2(B) synthesized from titanium glycolate complex by hydrothermal method

The metastable phase of TiO2(B), one of the polymorphs of titanium dioxide (TiO2), was prepared by a hydrothermal treatment of a titanium glycolate complex ([Ti-4(C2H2O3)(4)(C2H3O3)(2)(O-2)(4)O-2](6-)) at 473 K for 1-72 h in the presence of H2SO4. Characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the obtained samples were composed of single phase TiO2(B) and the particles had plate-like morphology. After post-synthetic hydrothermal crystal growth (PHCG) applied to the as-prepared sample, thicker plate-like shaped particles were obtained. The photocatalytic activities of the samples obtained by the hydrothermal treatment and after the subsequent PHCG were evaluated in terms of methanol decomposition. (C) 2009 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved.