Engineering Commons^™

A Novel Method For Making Titanium Dioxide For Photocatalytic Applications, Gary Wilson

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Titanium dioxide possesses near-ideal properties for large-scale application as a photocatalyst. It is cheap and abundant, nontoxic, and environmentally safe. However, it still suffers from logistical problems preventing its application in industry: namely, rapid electron-hole recombination and inability to utilize visible light. For nearly five decades researchers in this booming field have made numerous attempts to address these problems, doping and combining titanium dioxide with a wide range of materials. A novel ambient-temperature approach to synthesis and doping/modification of anatase-form titanium dioxide was attempted using both oxygen-rich and oxygen deprived synthetic routes. Reactants were exposed to various wavelengths of ultraviolet …