Preparation of TiO2 nanotubes and their photocatalytic properties in degradation methylcyclohexane

Abstract

The tubular TiO2 photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method. The external tube diameters fall in 8 and 12 nm and the internal diameters are between 5 and 8 nm. Moreover, the lengths of the nanotubes are up to 500 nm and the specific surface area increases to 330m 2/g, while TiO2 powders are 78m2/g. Methylcyclohexane (MCH) was selected as the target pollutant to investigate the photocatalytic performance. The results indicate that TiO2 nanotubes accelerate the degradation of MCH under the same conditions, comparing with TiO2 nanoparticles. Finally, the degradation reaction shows a first order kinetics. © 2007 The Japan Institute of Metals.