Controlling Phase Composition, Properties and Activity of TiO₂ Nano-Photocatalyst Synthesized by Hydrothermal Technique in the Degradation of Cinnamic Acid Solution

In this work, titanium oxide catalysts were synthesized by the hydrothermal method from titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) as a precursor under acidic (Ti-A1 and Ti-A2), neutral (Ti-W) and alkaline (Ti-B) media. Characteristics of the catalysts were identified by various methods including X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller adsorption, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The phase composition and PZC value of the obtained catalysts depended on the hydrothermal medium and the amount of TTIP: pure anatase and brookite phase formed at neutral and alkaline medium, respectively; whereas acidic medium favored the formation of anatase/rutile mixed phase and anatase phase decreased with the increasing amount of TTIP. The band gap energy of the synthesized catalysts was approximately 3.08–3.23 eV. Photocatalytic activity of synthesized catalysts was surveyed in the degradation of cinnamic acid (CA) solution at various pH in the region from 3.8 to 9.0 under UV irradiation. Photocatalytic oxidation was favorable in an acidic environment. At acidic pH values (3.8 and 5.0), the CA conversion was in the order of Ti-A2 ≥ Ti-A1 > Ti-P25 > Ti-W ≫ Ti-B, whereas it followed Ti-P25 > Ti-A1 > Ti-A2 ≈ Ti-W > Ti-B at pH 7.0 as well as pH 9.0.