A Comprehensive Study on Synthesis Parameters of TiO2 Nanotube Arrays: The Effects on Morphology and Photocatalytic Degradation of Para-NitroPhenol

The present research aimed to evaluate the effects of synthesis parameters on morphology and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanotube aligned arrays (TNAs) via a low cost anodization process. The impact of electrolyte composition, anodization time, as well as applied voltage on morphological and architecture properties of TNAs including; length, inner diameter, and wall thickness were accurately investigated. We further studied effect of heat treatment on crystalline and phase transformation of the samples at different annealing temperatures. Photocatalytic properties of the fabricated samples were studied for degradation of p-nitrophenol under UV light irradiation. Physical/chemical characteristics of the photo-anodes were observed using several techniques including field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) , Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and XRD . Moreover, the maximum photocatalytic performance for p-nitrophenol degradation was obtained as about 80%.