Synthesis and characterization of highly dispersed TiO2 nanocrystal colloids by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method

Anatase TiO2 nanocrystal colloids with high dispersion and photocatalytic activity were rapidly synthesized from peroxo-titanium-acid precursor by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method within 30 min at low temperature (120–180 °C). The transmission electron microscopy results indicate that the as-prepared TiO2 have a narrow particle size distribution (25–29 nm) and high dispersion. The crystal structure of all these products are pure anatase phase (XRD, Raman), and they show good crystallinity and large surface area (N2 adsorption–desorption measurements BET). The results of the UV–Visible absorbance and Fourier transform infrared spectra indicate that the surface peroxo group Ti(O2) still remains in TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method at 120 °C, and this surface peroxo group can be decomposed effectively by drying at 140 °C. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared TiO2 were evaluated by the degradation of reactive brilliant red X-3B, it is found that the as-prepared TiO2 exhibited good photocatalytic performance. Moreover, the existence of surface peroxo group greatly suppressed the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 nanoparticles.