Effect of concentration on the growth of rutile TiO2 nanocrystals.

In the following study we present an easy and scalable method for the synthesis of Rutile Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) nano-rods by using bulk TiO2 powder, Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH), distilled water and ethanol. We demonstrated the effects of concentration on the size, morphology and band gap of the finally obtained nanostructures. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) studies indicated that the samples were crystalline and were free from any impurities with a little hint of anatase at the lower concentrations and the average crystal size ranges between 20 nm to 41 nm, FESEM studies revealed that nano structures are rod like. Further UV-Visible Spectroscopy and Raman studies were conducted of the prepared samples and the band gap of the samples was found to be ranging from 3.5 eV to 3.8 eV. The photo-catalytic degradation of methyl orange was done by the sample prepared in the presence of UV source and was compared with the degrading capacity of bulk TiO2 and was inferred that the Methyl orange is degraded much efficiently with the use of the synthesized sample. The central feature of the presented approach being the use of simple technique and instruments like hot plate, economical and easily accessible chemical like NaOH as a reactant, and a facilitator for the growth of nano-rods and with the reaction being carried out at very low temperatures and less reaction times makes this technique highly feasible for being used in mass production of Rutile TiO2 nano-rods and the fact that the morphology and size can be tuned by varying the concentration of the NaOH.