Expanding the applications of the ilmenite mineral to the preparation of nanostructures: TiO2 nanorods and their photocatalytic properties in the degradation of oxalic acid

Tao, T; Chen, Y; Zhou, D; Zhang, HZ; Liu, S; Amal, R; Sharma, N; Glushenkov, AM

Expanding the applications of the ilmenite mineral to the preparation of nanostructures: TiO2 nanorods and their photocatalytic properties in the degradation of oxalic acid

Date

2013-01-14

Authors

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract

The mineral ilmenite is one of the most abundant ores in the Earth's crust and it is the main source for the industrial production of bulk titanium oxide. At the same time, methods to convert ilmenite into nanostructures of TiO2 (which are required for new advanced applications, such as solar cells, batteries, and photocatalysts) have not been explored to any significant extent. Herein, we describe a simple and effective method for the preparation of rutile TiO2 nanorods from ball-milled ilmenite. These nanorods have small dimensions (width: 520 nm, length: 50100 nm, thickness: 25 nm) and possess large specific surface areas (up to 97 m2?g-1). Dissolution/hydrolysis/precipitation is proposed as a growth mechanism. The nanorods were found to have attractive photocatalytic properties in the degradation of oxalic acid. Their photocatalytic activity is close to that of the benchmark Degussa P25 material and better than that of a commercial high-surface-area rutile powder. © 2013, Wiley-Blackwell

Keywords

Hydrochloric acid, Ilmenite, Solar cells, Ores, Kinetics

Citation

Tao, T., Chen, Y., Zhou, D., Zhang, H., Liu, S., Amal, R., Sharma, N., & Glushenkov, A. M. (2013). Expanding the applications of the ilmenite mineral to the preparation of nanostructures: TiO2 nanorods and their photocatalytic properties in the degradation of oxalic acid. Chemistry - A European Journal, 19(3), 1091-1096. doi:10.1002/chem.201202451