One-Step Acidic Hydrothermal Preparation of Dendritic Rutile TiO2 Nanorods for Photocatalytic Performance

• Main Authors: Cheng Gong, Jun Du, Xiuyun Li, Zhenjie Yu, Jiansong Ma, Wenqian Qi, Kai Zhang, Jin Yang, Mei Luo, Hailong Peng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-09-01
• Series: Nanomaterials
• Subjects: titanium dioxide; nanorods; photocatalysis; acidic hydrothermal method; hydrophilicity
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/8/9/683

Three-dimensional and dendritic rutile TiO2 nanorods were successfully fabricated on a Ti foil surface using a one-step acidic hydrothermal method. The TiO2 nanorods were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical contact angle testing. The results showed that the nanorods with diameters of 100–500 nm and lengths of 100 nm to 1 μm were obtained on the Ti foil surface. The length and density of the TiO2 nanorods were perfect at the conditions of HCl concentration 0.5 mol/L, temperature 220 °C, and reaction time 12 h. The TiO2 nanorods formed parallel to the consumption of Ti and grew along the (110) direction having a tetragonal rutile crystal. The morphology of the nanorods possessed a three-dimensional structure. The contact angle of the nanorods was only 13 ± 3.1°. Meanwhile, the photocatalytic activities of the TiO2 nanorods were carried out using ultraviolet fluorescence spectrophotometry for the methyl orange detection, and the degradation was found to be about 71.00% ± 2.43%. Thus, TiO2 nanorods can be developed by a one-step acidic hydrothermal method using Ti foil simultaneously as the substrate with a TiO2 source; the TiO2 nanorods exhibited photocatalytic performance while being environment-friendly.