Preparation and characterization of titania powders obtained via hydrolysis of titanium tetraisopropoxide

TiO2 powders were prepared through the hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide followed by calcination at temperatures of 200 °C to 600 °C. The obtained powders were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption and X-ray powder diffraction. The results confirmed strong dependence between specific surface area of the TiO2 powders and both the conditions of the hydrolysis process and the calcination temperature. While calcination temperature strongly affected crystallinity of the product, no significant influence of the hydrolysis conditions on this parameter was observed. TiO2 powders prepared at various conditions were examined as catalysts for photodegradation of Acid Red 18 in water. Photoactivities of the prepared powders were influenced by both the amount of water used to hydrolyze the TiO2 precursor and the temperature of calcination process. TiO2 samples calcined at 500 °C appeared to be the most active and the photocatalytic activities of the prepared materials increased along with the amount of water used for the hydrolysis process.