Ahmad Ramli, Shazleen (2023) The optimization technique of hcl etch TiO2 ROD thin film for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. Masters thesis, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.

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Abstract

The use of titanium dioxide (TiO2) as a photocatalyst has significantly enhanced wastewater treatment technology in recent years since it is one of the semiconductor metal oxides with strong photocatalytic activity. Methylene Blue (MB) is one of the synthetic dyes that are evident to pollute the environment which causes harm to living things and is hard to eliminate using traditional methods. In this work, the effect of the photocatalytic degradation of MB by as-deposited and etched TiO2 rod thin film was studied experimentally. However, the limitation on the surface area of TiO2 rod limits the degradation of MB. Therefore, etching treatment using hydrochloric acid (HCl) is introduced to increase the rod's surface area. The effect of reaction time during TiO2 rod fabrication and the effect of HCl concentration during etching treatment was also studied. The structural, morphological, topological, optical and electrical properties of the rods were characterized. Rutile TiO2 rod film was fabricated on Fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) at 150°C via hydrothermal method. It reveals that the crystallinity of the TiO2 increased with time. The morphology experience increasing diameter and thickness. The bandgap encounters decreasing behavior with increasing reaction time. 8 hours of reaction time is chosen as the optimum condition for the TiO2 rod thin film fabrication. Through etching treatment, it is found that the crystallinity of the TiO2 increased up to HCl concentration of 0.03M, and decrease. The rod morphology transposes to nanowires and nanocaves and decreases in thickness. Among the varied concentrations, 0.03M was chosen as the optimum condition for the etching treatment. The photocatalytic analysis was conducted to study and compare the ability of as-deposited and etched TiO2 rod thin film to degrade the MB. The optimized reaction time is at 10 hours. The results reveal that the highest MB degradation is at the highest at 99.39% which favour pH12 and 5ppm concentration. This work shows that optimizing the conditions for etching treatment places a role in improving the surface area of the rod which assist in photocatalytic activity

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