Enhanced adsorption property of TiO2 based nanoribbons produced by alkaline hydrothermal process

Abstract

TiO₂ is a semiconductor material with endless potential for the development of renewable energy as well as in the environmental field application. With various methods, TiO₂ nanostructures with various morphology, properties and application can be developed. In this paper, the synthesis of TiO₂ based nanoribbons with high adsorption property produced by alkaline hydrothermal methods were investigated. Its morphology, crystal structure and physical properties were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis. The result shows that by controlling the hydrothermal processing time, different morphology and structures of TiO₂ nanoribbons with different adsorption properties can be obtained. The nanoribbons produced via alkaline hydrothermal method has width 200-300 nm and length up to several microns. It also possesses fair adsorption capacity over dyes (Rhodamine B and Methyl orange) considering its large surface area and high pore volume.