Environmentally-friendly biomimicking synthesis of TiO2 nanomaterials using saccharides to tailor morphology, crystal phase and photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Owing to its broad applications and fundamental importance, a synthesis method with the capability to tailor TiO₂ with different crystal phases and morphologies has attracted significant research attention. In this work, an environmentally-friendly biomimetic synthesis was developed to fabricate TiO₂ nanomaterials. It is interesting to discover that saccharides as biotemplates to synthesize TiO₂ cannot only direct the formation of the desired architectural nanocrystals but also significantly affect the crystal phase. The results further indicate that rutile TiO₂ is obtained by using β-cyclodextrin and chitosan, while anatase TiO₂ is formed by using soluble starch. The nanomaterials obtained by using different saccharides show higher photocatalytic activity than those without using the biotemplate. The possible mechanisms for the nanostructures growth and their photocatalytic activity are proposed. This work demonstrates an advanced synthetic method to structurally refine nanotitania with a higher degree of functionality while possessing an environmentally-friendly nature.