Ultrasonic-Assisted Synthesis and Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 Nanoparticles for Methyl Orange Degradation under Visible Light

TiO2 nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using a facile and scalable sol-gel method followed by calcination in air. The structural and optical properties, along with the photocatalytic performance of the nanoparticles were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and degradation of anionic azo dye (methyl orange (MO)) under visible light irradiation. The prepared TiO2 nanoparticles crystallize in the anatase structure with a highly crystalline order. The results showed a band gap energy of 3.59, 3.79 and 3.54 eV, respectively, which suggests a better photocatalytic activity for sample calcined at 450 °C compared to other samples’ thermal treatments. The synthesis route employed for the preparation of the TiO2 nano-photocatalyst resulted to be efficient for degradation reactions MO of dyes.