Low Temperature Solvent Evaporation-induced Crystallization Synthesis of Nanocrystalline TiO₂ Photocatalyst

A novel and efficient methodology for obtaining highly active photocatalyst of bi-phase TiO₂ with small particle size and high specific surface area was developed by solvent evaporation-induced crystallization (SEIC) method at low temperature. The prepared TiO₂ powder was characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and BET surface areas. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation of acetone in air. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of the TiO₂ powder prepared by this method approached that of Degussa P25. This may be attributed to the fact that the prepared TIO₂ powder had larger specific surface areas (265 nr². g⁻¹) and smaller crystallite size (about 5 nm), but relatively low crystallinity, as compared with Degussa P25.