Effect of heating rate on structure, morphology and photocatalytic properties of TiO2 particles: thermal kinetic and thermodynamic studies

In this study, TiO2 powders were produced via sol–gel route at 500 °C for 2 h with distinct heating rates. TGA-DTA, XRD, SEM, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, UV–vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence characterization techniques were carried out for TiO2 powders. Photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2 powders on degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution was examined in terms of different heating rates. Thermodynamic and non-isothermal kinetic study of TiO2 powders were estimated. TiO2 powders showed anatase phase based on XRD results. Surface morphology of TiO2 powders did not change with different heating rates. It can be concluded that heating rate played important role on band gap and photocatalytic activity. The band gap of the TiO2 particles decreased from 3.25 to 2.95 with increasing heating rate. The photocatalytic activity results exhibit that T1 powders have the highest photocatalytic performances. The kinetic constant and photocatalytic degradation rate were 0.00678 min−1 and 83.48%, respectively. This could be attributed to high crystalline structure and low bulk vacancies or defects. Furthermore, TiO2 powders showed good stability. This study exhibited a new way to enhance the photocatalytic performances of pure TiO2 powders.