Study on Morphology of TiO2 Nanostructures synthesized under Microwave Irradiation and Their Application in Visible Light Photocatalysis

Different morphologies of TiO2 were prepared successfully by microwave assisted sol-gel reflux synthesis. The synthesized samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis spectrophotometer and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). SEM studies showed that TiO2 changed its morphology over time under microwave irradiation and attained crystalline hierarchical nano-dendrites like morphology after 30 minutes of irradiation. Through the use of microwave assisted sol-gel reflux synthesis, crystalline nano-dendrites were obtained in 30 minutes. XRD pattern showed that anatase phase of TiO2 was being observed in all the samples after irradiation at different time intervals. UV-Vis spectroscopy results showed that all the prepared samples are highly active in UV region of solar spectrum. Also, EIS results demonstrate the recombination behavior of electrons and holes. The prepared samples were further employed as active photocatalysts for degradation of rhodamine B pollutant under UV light irradiation too.