Hydrothermal Synthesis and Photocatalytic Activity of TiO₂@CNTs Nanocomposite

TiO2@CNTs nanocomposite was synthetized by a hydrothermal method at 453 K, using titanium tetrachloride as a precursor and nitrified CNTs as a support. The crystal phase, morphology, microstructure and element distribution of the sample were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM-Mapping). The photocatalytic activity of the sample was measured by degrading methyl orange under UV illumination. The results showed that the titania particles in the shape of regular polygon decorate on the outer surface of CNTs evenly, and their sizes were about 7-20 nm. Moreover, photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite was better than that of P25 Degussa and nitrated CNTs followed the apparent pseudo-first-order rate law. These results point out that synergistic effect exists between the titania and the carbon nanotubes in the nanocomposite.