Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Properties of a 3D Flower-Like TiO2 Nanostructure Photocatalyst

Flower-like titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures are successfully synthesized using a hybrid sol-gel and a simple hydrothermal method. The sample was characterized using various techniques to study their physicochemical properties and was tested as a photocatalyst for methyl orange degradation and as an antibacterial material. Raman spectrum and X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern show that the phase structure of the synthesized TiO2 is anatase with 80-100 nm in diameter and 150-200 nm in length of flower-like nanostructures as proved by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis of flower-like anatase TiO2 nanostructure found that only titanium and oxygen elements are present in the sample. The anatase phase was confirmed further by a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern analysis. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) result shows that the sample had a large surface area (108.24 m2/g) and large band gap energy (3.26 eV) due to their nanosize. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed the formation of Ti4+ and Ti3+ species which could prevent the recombination of the photogenerated electron, thus increased the electron transportation and photocatalytic activity of flower-like anatase TiO2 nanostructure to degrade the methyl orange (83.03%) in a short time (60 minutes). These properties also support the good performance of flower-like titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructure as an antibacterial material which is comparable with penicillin which is 13.00 ± 0.02 mm inhibition zone against Staphylococcus aureus.