Synthesis, Structural Elucidation and Application of Core-shell Structured Black Titanium Dioxide Photocatalyst for the Removal of Phenolic Compounds from Real Wastewater

Recently, the core-shell structured black titanium dioxide (Black-TiO2) photocatalyst has attracted massive research interest due its improved photocatalytic properties and performance in various applications. In this paper, the synthesis of CS B-TiO2 is reported, and its structural properties are elucidated. The Black-TiO2 was synthesized by hydrolysis of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) in aqueous glycerol and post calcination at a low temperature of 300°C for 1h. The properties of the Black-TiO2 were determined using x-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) coupled with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and 3-dimension (3D) plots, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), diffuse reflectance UV-Visible spectroscopy (DRUV-Vis), and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The performance of the Black-TiO2 was evaluated for the removal of phenolic compounds from real wastewater matrix under visible light irradiation. The results demonstrated anatase phase, particle size of 14.30 nm and an amorphous shell with a thickness of 1.5 nm surrounding the crystalline core of the Black-TiO2. Most importantly, the visible light absorption was enhanced, the bandgap was narrowed to 2.96 eV, and electron-hole pair recombination was considerably suppressed in Black-TiO2 which led to enhanced photocatalytic performance indicated by the 48.17% removal of the initial 224.85 mg/L phenolic compounds within 180 min of visible light irradiation.