Synthesis of titania and titanate nanomaterials and their application in environmental analytical chemistry

TiO2 nanoparticles and H2Ti2O5·H2O, Na2Ti2O4(OH)2 nanotubes were synthesized by solvothermal method and their applications in the degradation of active Brilliant-blue (KN-R) solution were investigated. The experimental results revealed that the synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles had a good crystallinity and a narrow size distribution (about 4–5 nm); the obtained H2Ti2O5·H2O, Na2Ti2O4(OH)2 were tubelike products with an average diameter of ∼20–30 and ∼200–300 nm length. The three catalysts we synthesized had some hydroxyl groups and the maximum absorption boundaries of the samples were all red-shifted, which indicated the samples had a promising prospect in photocatalysis.The results of the photocatalytic experiments indicated that the photocatalytic activity of the samples was: TiO2 > H2Ti2O5·H2O > Na2Ti2O4(OH)2, which was in good accordance with the fact of FTIR and UV–vis absorption spectra. The formation mechanism of these nanostructures was also discussed.