Synthesis of Brookite Titanium Dioxide Nanorods using Salt-Assisted Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis Process and their Photocatalytic Activities

Here, We present the first-ever synthetic method based on the salt-assisted ultrasonic spray pyrolysis process of pure brookite TiO₂ nanorods. H₂TiF₆ and NaNO₃ were used as a titanium precursor and salt for the synthesis, the NaNO₃ contributes to the individual separation of primary nanostructures and the stabilization of brookite phase generated by the pyrolysis reaction of the precursor in a droplet. The synthesized nanorods were high crystalline and phase purity, as determined by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy studies. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy investigations showed the effect of the salt addition on the morphological features and the nanorods to have a one-dimensional morphology with an average diameter of about 10 nm. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized brookite nanorod was tested employing the photodegradation of methylene blue under Xenon lamp irradiation. The results indicated that the brookite nanorod synthesized by salt-assisted ultrasonic spray pyrolysis was superior to commercial anatase nanoparticles.