Production of highly efficient photocatalytic TiO2 powders by mechanical ball milling

Abstract

Highly efficient photocatalytic TiO2 powders were prepared using a conventional ball mill with various milling times of 0, 12, 24 and 48 h. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared TiO2 powders was evaluated using the decomposition rate obtained by methylene blue (MB) solution and acetic acid gas under UV light irritation. After 24 h milling, the particle size decreased from 555 nm to 122 nm without changing any of the crystal structure. The photocatalytic TiO2 powders prepared by 24 h milling decomposed 94% of the methylene blue solution while the nonmilled TiO2 powders provided only 61% decomposition. After the removal of acetic acid gas, it took 1.5 h for the 24h-milled powders to decompose 100%, while the non-milled TiO2 showed 73% decomposition with same UV illumination duration. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.