Photocatalytic Degradation of Diazinon Using Titanium Oxide Synthesized by Alkaline Solvent
ABSTRACT: Photoactivity of
titanium dioxide (TiO2) can be improved by transformation to nanoparticles.
Synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles can be accomplished by a hydrothermal method
and the product of this method is affected by types of the precursor, reactant
type, and concentration, also hydrothermal conditions, i.e. time and
temperature. Titanium dioxide crystal nanoparticles can be applied to catalyze
the degradation of insecticide, including diazinon. Theobjective of the present
study was to determine the hydrothermal condition that produces high-quality
TiO2 crystals nanoparticles. In the present study, titanium tetrachloride
(TiCl4) was used as initial precursors while distilled water, double distilled
water (DDW), ethanol, t-butanol, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium
hydroxide (KOH) was used as reactants. The diffractogram of the TiO2
nanoparticles showed anatase and rutile crystal structures. Based on
calculations using the Scherrer equation, the TiO2 crystals size were less than
50 nm for both anatase and rutile.The percentage of rutile and anatase
composition was determined using Rietveld method assisted by rietica software.
Morphology examination of TiO2 crystals showed cubic and flower-shaped
particles for anatase and rutile crystals, respectively. The best degradation
performance of diazinon through photoactivity was given by TiO2 synthesized
using KOH as a reactant.
Keywords: titanium dioxide
nanoparticles; hydrothermal; Scherrer equation; Rietveld method; diazinon
Author: Mohammad Rofik Usman
Journal Code: jpkimiagg170032
