ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Modifications in structural, morphological and optical properties of TiO₂ nanoparticles: effect of pH

Shweta Manchwari, Jaya Khatter, and R. P. Chauhan

Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, India

E-mail: m9299755@gmail.com

Received: 29 May 2022  Accepted: 16 August 2022

Abstract:

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is an exclusive system to study the nanoscale phenomenon due to its unique optical and electrical properties and, also, for its promising future applications. In this paper, three different samples of TiO₂ are synthesized using different acidic concentrations in synthesis reaction, and subsequently, comparison has been made among them. Hydrothermal method is used for synthesis of TiO₂ nanoparticles and nitric acid (HNO₃) is utilized for controlling the acidic concentration. Characterization techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy are employed to study the structural, morphological and optical properties of resulting nanoparticles. XRD analysis shows that increase in HNO₃ concentration resulted into enlargement in size of TiO₂ nanoparticles. Hydrothermally synthesized nanoparticles showed different morphologies (i.e., nanoflakes, nanotubes, and nanoparticles) at different concentrations. Also, the band gap energy of samples is affected by the change in acidic concentrations wherein TiO₂ nanoparticles of smallest size exhibit the largest band gap when compared with other two.

Keywords: Titanium dioxide; Hydrothermal; pH; Optical properties

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-022-02437-0

Chemical Papers 76 (12) 7545–7551 (2022)