Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of chrysanthemum-like brookite TiO2 nanostructures

•Chrysanthemum-like brookite TiO2 was prepared by CTAB-assisted hydrothermal method.•Chrysanthemum-like TiO2 structures are composed of many interconnected nanopetals.•The brookite TiO2 powders exhibited high photocatalytic activities to10 mg L−1 MB.

Chrysanthemum-like brookite TiO2 nanostructures were synthesized via a hydrothermal method in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). TiCl4 was used as the titanium source, and sodium hydroxide was used to control pH value. The morphology and structure of the as-prepared TiO2 powders were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that brookite TiO2 with chrysanthemum-like nanostructures of about 3 µm in diameter were composed of numerous curved petals in size of hundreds of nanometers in length and 60–80 nm in thickness. The chrysanthemum-like TiO2 nanostructures were applied to the photodegradation of methylene blue under UV light illumination and showed high photocatalytic activity to methylene blue (10 mg L−1 methylene blue (MB) solution: 86% degradation) at 10 mW cm−2.