The Role of Calcination Temperature in the Self-cleaning Functionality of Urea-Doped TiO2 Prepared through In Situ Heat-Assisted Sol–Gel Synthesis

Abstract

In this study, urea-doped titanium dioxide (urea-TiO2) nanoparticles were synthesized through an in situ heat-assisted sol–gel technique using titanium (IV) isopropoxide as the precursor for titanium dioxide and urea as a nitrogen source. The nanoparticles were calcined at 300, 500, and 700 °C to study the effect of the calcination temperature on their function as self-cleaning material. The nanoparticles were characterized using a scanning electron microscope and a transmission electron microscope for morphology, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy for structure, UV–Vis, and photoluminescence spectroscopy for optical analysis. The self-cleaning study was carried out by letting samples degrade methylene blue and Rhodamine-B under UV irradiation. The morphological analysis reveals particle size distribution with more disparity at higher calcination temperatures.