Au nanoparticles decorated titanium dioxide nanotubes for sunlight driven photocatalytic degradation of trinitrophenol

Abstract

In this study, titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TiO sub(2)) were prepared by two-step anodization. The geometry of the nanotube arrays was controlled by varying the duration of anodization. The TiO sub(2) nanotubes were annealed and subsequently spin-coated by Au nanoparticles (AuNPs). The AuNPs enhanced the visible light activity of TiO sub(2) nanotubes by localized surface plasmon resonance. The AuNPs-coated TiO sub(2) nanotubes were characterized using SEM, UV-Visible spectrophotometer, photoluminescence spectrophotometer and GIXRD. The photocatalytic activity of AuNPs-coated TiO sub(2) nanotubes was studied using trinitrophenol degradation under sunlight. The nanotubes prepared for 600 s duration showed enhanced photocatalytic degradation of trinitrophenol dye after 180 minutes of duration under sunlight.