Facile synthesis of CTAB-SM-TiO2 nanophotocatalyst and its superior photocatalytic performance

CTAB-Surface-Modified-TiO2 nanocatalysts were synthesized via a microemulsion combine hydrothermal method. The experimental result showed that the nitric acid concentration and hydrothermal temperature had important influence on the photocatalytic activity of samples. When the nitric acid concentration was 2 M and hydrothermal temperature was 120 °C, photocatalytic activity of sample was highest. It could achieve 99.99% degradation rate of rhodamine B (RhB) within 60 min visible light irradiation. The superior photocatalytic activity was mainly ascribed to that the CTAB molecule groups could abound the surface state of TiO2 and the abundant surface state could generate shallow trap levels to trap electron and thus enhanced light absorption as well as reduced electron-hole pair recombination.