| Popis: |
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles were synthesized using combustion synthesis with different fuels and immobilized onto the ITO electrode surface using the Layer-by-Layer technique. The properties of the TiO2 were significantly influenced by the type of fuel used during synthesis (citric acid, L-alanine, glycine, or urea) and pH due to factors such as the fuel's reducing power and its complexation with the oxotitanium(IV) cation, [Ti = O]2+. Citric acid and L-alanine fuels formed only the anatase phase of TiO2, while glycine and urea formed mixtures of the anatase and brookite phases. Complete conversion to TiO2 at lower temperatures was observed when using urea. The band gap energy exhibited a significant decrease in the obtained materials compared to bulk TiO2 (3.2 eV). Urea and L-alanine fuels produced materials with smaller crystallite sizes and higher specific surface areas. Urea was the fuel that yielded TiO2 photoelectrodes with the best photoelectrocatalytic for the methylene blue discoloration reaction. |
