Controllable preparation of flower-like brookite TiO2 nanostructures via one-step hydrothermal method

• Flower-like brookite TiO2 structures were prepared by hydrothermal method.
• PVP not only acted as a dispersant but also stabilized the layered structure.
• The resulted brookite TiO2 showed high photocatalytic activity under UV irradiation.

Flower-like brookite TiO2 nanostructures were controllable prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method by changing experimental conditions, such as hydrothermal temperature, reaction time and the amount of polyvinylpyrrolidone. The photocatalytic activities of the samples were investigated by degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under UV light irradiation. It was found that the formation of brookite TiO2 nanostructures with various morphologies could be well controlled by the adjustment of hydrothermal temperature, reaction time and the amount of surfactant, and the morphology of the products changed from spindle-like structures to flower-like structures with the increase of hydrothermal temperature, reaction time and the amount of surfactant. The photocatalytic tests indicate that the flower-like brookite TiO2 nanostructures shows high photocatalytic activity in degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV light irradiation. The formation mechanism of flower-like brookite TiO2 nanostructures was also discussed in detail based on the above investigations.

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