ZHOU Zhiwen, YAO Yuanzhuo, He Xing, KONG Qi, CHEN Yuan, WEI Zhishun
(School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China)
Abstract: Octahedral TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by using a facile hydrothermal method, with potassium titanate nanowires (TNWs) as the precursor. The photocatalytic activity of the nanoparticles on degradation of methyl orange was evaluated. It was found that the sample prepared at 160 ℃ with 300 mg TNWs consisted of octahedral particles with the largest aspect ratio, highest uniformity and also the highest photocatalytic activity. The optimal sample was further modified with platinum, in order to raise the photocatalytic efficiency for water splitting, with an enhancement by 223 times.
Key words: TiO2; octahedron; surface modification; photocatalytic activity