Urea Modified TiO2 Nanoparticles Prepared by Sol-Gel Method to enhance the Photocatalytic Activity under Sunlight

Abstract

Pure and urea (5wt %) doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles were prepared by sol–gel method. The preparation of pure and urea doped TiO2 nanoparticles were achieved by titanium tetraisopropoxide, hydrochloric acid and ethanol as starting materials and the products were annealed at 600°C to get anatase phase. The prepared materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT- IR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with Energy dispersive X- ray analysis (EDX) and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by degradation ofMethyl Orange (MO) in aqueous solution at concentration (10 ppm) under sunlight irradiation. The experimental results reveal that the urea doped TiO2 nanoparticles exhibit an enhanced photocatalytic activity in sunlight compared with that of pure TiO2 nanoparticles. Keywords: Photocatalytic activity, sol gel method, TiO2, urea.