Polyacrylamide gel synthesis and photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles

In this study, a polyacrylamide gel route was introduced to synthesize TiO2 nanoparticles. The influence of synthesis conditions on the properties of products was investigated. It is found that the samples prepared at the calcination temperature of 400 °C crystallize majorly in the anatase phase with a minor rutile phase. The second rutile phase has a dependence on the chelating agent, which is formed more readily when using acetic acid as the chelating agent. The introduction of acrylamide and glucose to the precursor solution shows the capability of improving the particle morphology, and the resulted particles are uniformly shaped like spheres. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared TiO2 samples was evaluated by the degradation of acid orange 7 under 254 nm ultraviolet irradiation, revealing that they exhibit a good photocatalytic activity. Ethanol was used as a ·OH scavenger to investigate its effect on the photocatalytic efficiency as well as the ·OH radical yields. Based on the experimental results, ·OH radical is suggested to be the dominant active species responsible for the dye degradation.