Green synthesis of spherical TiO2 nanoparticles using Citrus Limetta extract: Excellent photocatalytic water decontamination agent for RhB dye

Abstract

In this research work, TiO2 nanoparticles has been prepared by eco-friendly green synthesis technique using Citrus Limetta extract which is rarely used. The citric acid present within the extract acted as reducing and capping agent for nanoparticles resulting pure TiO2 nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles are characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) analysis. The synthesized nanoparticles are approximately 80–100 nm in size, spherical in shape and distribution of the nanoparticles was almost uniform all over the sample. The calculated band gap of nanoparticles was 3.22 eV which confirmed the formation of anatase phase TiO2 nanoparticles. The enhanced photocatalytic activity with respect to time and catalyst concentration was examined for RhB acting as a model dye which is better than many reported results. Almost 90% dye was degraded within 80 min which shows its excellent photocatalytic efficiency.