Document Type : Regular Article

Authors

• Aya Talal Sami ¹
• Selma M. H. Al-Jawad ¹
• Natheer Jamal Imran ²

¹ College of Applied Sciences, University of Technology-Iraq, Iraq

² Research and Technology Center of Environment, Water and Renewable Energy, Scientific Research Commission, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Iraq

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) has attracted significant interest for water treatment applications due to its non-toxic nature and high photocatalytic activity. In this study, TiO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized using two different methods to evaluate their photocatalytic performance in degrading organic contaminants from wastewater. Sample S1 was prepared via the sol–gel method, while sample S2 was synthesized using a hydrothermal approach. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that both samples crystallized in the tetragonal anatase phase, with average crystallite sizes of 12 nm for S1 and 29 nm for S2. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) revealed spherical particles with uniform morphology for both samples. Optical absorbance measurements conducted using UV–vis spectrophotometry yielded estimated band gap energies of 3.2 eV for S1 and 3.0 eV for S2. Both samples demonstrated notable photocatalytic activity; however, S2 exhibited superior degradation efficiency against organic pollutants, indicating that the hydrothermally synthesized TiO₂ possesses enhanced photocatalytic properties. These results underscore the potential of TiO₂ particularly that synthesized via hydrothermal methods, as an effective photocatalyst for wastewater treatment applications.

Keywords

• TiO2 nanoparticles
• Hydrothermal
• Sol-gel
• Photocatalytic activity
• Wastewater

Main Subjects

• Applied Physics