Effect of electron irradiation to the photocatalytic activity of the titanium dioxide fibers

Abstract

The main crystal phase of titanium dioxide (TiO2) anatase, play the important role in the efficiency of photocatalysis. In this study, electron irradiation from 200-1,000 kGy has been used to alter the anatase-to-rutile phase ratio in TiO2 particles. For photocatalytic reaction, the TiO2 particles are loaded into the polymer fibers through electrospinning technique and then the ability of the fibers to photo degrade the methylene blue dye is measured. XRD analysis shows the changes in the crystal structure of the TiO2 particles and the phase transformation from anatase to rutile after radiation. Morphology studies confirmed that the TiO2 particles are incorporated well into the fibers and distributed homogeneously without beadings and agglomerations. The photocatalytic activity shows radiation at 1,000 kGy possess the highest degradation of methylene blue dye, resulting from the highest anatase phase content.