Preparation of amorphous sphere-like TiO2 with excellent photocatalytic performance

Abstract In this work, amorphous sphere-like TiO2 particles with excellent photocatalytic performance were synthesized by Stober method. The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), particle size analyzer, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS), respectively. The results display that titania particles prepared exhibit enhanced optical absorption from 400 to 450 nm. Titania particles prepared possess higher separation rate of the photo-induced charge pairs than P25 (TiO2) from 400 to 450 nm. The photocatalytic performance of titania particles prepared toward decolorization of rhodamine B aqueous solution was investigated. The results show that the photocatalytic performance of titania particles priors to that of P25.