Novel TiO2 Photocatalyst Using Nonaqueous Solvent- Controlled Sol-Gel Route

Synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles with tailored properties is of great interest because of their potential in environmental, sensor, biomedical and energy applications. Specifically, TiO2 gets special attention because of its high stability, biocompatibility, tunable band gap and surface properties. Aqueous sol-gel routes for the synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles are well established but suffer from little control over morphology and reproducibility. Nonaqueous solvent controlled sol-gel routes are good alternative to aqueous routes for the synthesis of highly crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles with high purity and controlled doping of large size metallic ions. Present chapter describes the successful doping of large sized Zr and Na metal ions at Ti site and their influence on photo catalytic activity of TiO2. The higher photo catalytic activity (even better than commercially available Degussa P25) of metal doped TiO2 nanopowder is attributed to large surface area and reduced electron-hole recombination rate.