Investigation of milling time on particle size reduction and photoinduced activity performance of commercial TiO2 for optical energy harvesting applications

Abstract

In this research, effect of milling time on crucial physical structures of commercial TiO2 powders in form of anatase phase is investigated. The as-received commercial TiO2 powders were ball-milled with ethanol solvent at room temperature at various operating time ranging from 6-24 hrs. Particle sizes and surface areas of milled powders were characterized by particle analyzer and Brunauer Emmet Teller (BET) method.TiO2 surface morphologies of the powders milled at various times were monitored by scanning electron microscope. The photocatalytic activities of the milled powders were conducted by mean of the photo-induced degradation against RhB aqueous solution. The results reveal that particle size of the commercial TiO2 powders can be effectively minimized to few hundred nanometer range depending on milling time. The drastic reduction in their size results to the increasing active surface area of the particles and the enhanced photo-induced activity that was supported by the photodegradation performance. This enhancement can suggest them to the suitability in optical energy harvesting optoelectronic applications including photovoltaic devices, optical based sensors and related environmental-friendly usage. © 2013 SPIE.