Self-Assembled TiO₂ Nanospheres By Using a Biopolymer as a Template and Its Optoelectronic Application

Self-assembled TiO(2) nanoparticulate materials with well-defined spherical morphologies were synthesized by using a biopolymer sodium alginate as a template under different synthesis conditions. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used to characterize the TiO(2) nanoparticles. N(2) sorption analysis revealed the moderately good surface area (124.0 m(2) g(-1)) and pore volume (0.44 cm(3) g(-1)) of these TiO(2) nanoparticles. The biopolymer templating pathway leads to good-quality self-assembled TiO(2) nanoparticles with dimensions of ca. 10-12 nm within the synthesis temperature range of 0-60 °C. These porous TiO(2) nanomaterials showed high photogenerated current in the presence of a dye (Rose Bengal), used as a sensitizer for several photo on/off cycles.