One Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nickel Doped TiO2 Nanotube

Abstract

TiO₂ is one of the photocatalyst materials that is widely used and proven for environmental treatment. To increase the activity of TiO₂, TiO₂ has been modified into a nanotube shape with nickel metal doping. The TiO₂ nanotubes with Ni doping have been synthesized with one step hydrothermal process. In this research, it shows that nickel doped with TiO₂ led to a reduction of crystal size and band gap energy. The smaller crystalline size and lower band gap energy enhanced its photocatalytic activity. The best results for photocatalytic activity were TiO₂/Ni with a crystal size of 7.30 nm and a band gap energy value of 3.12 eV. The photocatalytic activity of TiO₂/Ni was tested by degrading methylene blue under mercury lamp radiation, with the best result of 92.73 % degradation of methylene blue, within 240 minutes of photocatalytic activity.