Comparative study of plasma-synthesized and commercial-P25 TiO2 for photocatalytic discoloration of reactive red 120 dye in aqueous solution

Abstract

The photoactivity of titania obtained by exposing 50 mg L–1 of TiCl3 precursor to non-thermal plasma was evaluated through the degradation of the reagent RR120 dye. Herein, the effect of calcination has been closely investigated to bring insight into the effect of crystallinity on degradation. As photocatalysis occurs at the surface, BET analysis was run to evaluate the specific surface and pore size diameter. XRD was conducted to follow the crystal phase. Results reveal that the increase in calcination temperature led to an increase in the crystallite size and pore size. The trend towards rutilation observed with increasing temperature makes the material less effective beyond 500°C. The degradation efficiencies when comparing the titania synthesized under plasma condition with the commercial (Evonik P25) are 35% and 98%, respectively. These findings show the great potential of synthesized titania due to its greater contact surface and its particular shape.