Synthesis of diverse titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures for enhanced photocatalytic degradation and supercapacitor performance

In this investigation, we employed a straightforward hydrothermal method to synthesize various TiO2 nanostructures, including titanium nanoparticles (TNPs), titanium nanorods (TNRs), and titanium nanotubes (TNTs). Generally, TiO2 is a widely studied chemical compound in the materials research field, which finds applications in diverse areas such as photocatalysis and energy storage systems. Furthermore, these nanostructures hold immense potential for applications in dye degradation and supercapacitors. To characterize the synthesized photocatalysts, we employed techniques such as XRD, DLS, UV–Vis spectra, SEM, TEM, and electrochemical workstation. The as-synthesized photocatalysts demonstrated remarkable efficiency in degrading different concentrations of rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes under direct sunlight while also exhibiting excellent electrochemical properties. For comparison, we included bulk TiO2 anatase powder in our study. In the case of supercapacitor application, TNRs exhibited the highest specific capacitance of 122 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1, outperforming the 0-dimensional (0D) nanostructures and bulk TiO2 powder (TBP). Our results indicate that the 1-dimensional (1D) TiO2 nanostructures offer superior performance under optimal experimental conditions compared to the other forms of TiO2.