Preparation, characterization, and photocatalytic studies on anatase nano-TiO2 at internal air lift circulating photocatalytic reactor

•Nano-TiO2 was prepared by complex techniques of sol–gel, micro-emulsion and solvent thermal.•The size of TiO2 was nano level and uniformity.•Nano-TiO2 exhibited high photo-catalytic activity at internal air lift circulating reactor.•The best nano-TiO2 dosage was obtained.

Anatase nano-titania (TiO2) powder was prepared by using a sol–gel process mediated in reverse microemulsion combined with a solvent thermal technique. The structures of the obtained TiO2 were characterized by TG-DSC, XRD, TEM. The photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue (MB) on nano-TiO2 was studied by using an internal air lift circulating photocatalytic reactor. The results show that the anatase structure appears in the calcination temperature range of 400–510 °C, while the transformation of anatase into rutile takes place above 510 °C. The homogeneous microstructure of nano-TiO2 particles was obtained with a size of around 10–15 nm. In the photocatalytic performance, degradation process follows pseudo first order kinetics with different dosages of photocatalyst and initial MB concentrations and optimal TiO2 dosage is 0.1 g/L with neutral medium.

Graphical abstractThe micro morphological structure of the nano-TiO2 particles was also observed with TEM, as shown in figure. The TEM images clearly exhibited the homogeneous microstructure of particles with a size of around 10–15 nm.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide