Influence of anatase-brookite composition on photocatalytic degradation of diethyl phthalate

Considering the present situation of exploitation of TiO₂ as a photocatalyst, optimization of its polymorphs (anatase, brookite, and rutile) becomes critical. In the present study, TiO₂ nanoparticles have been synthesized using the sol-gel technique to understand the effect of heat treatment-induced anatase-brookite composition on photocatalytic diethyl phthalate removal. The influence of heat treatment on structural characteristics of TiO₂ is investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Bot, XRD and Raman results indicated the coexistence of brookite and anatase. At the same time, UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) revealed the optical modifications caused by the presence of brookite in the anatase network to alter the photo absorption and photoemission characteristics. The photocatalytic degradation of diethyl phthalate was observed as 95 % under UV–visible illumination (for 225 min) in the presence of the sample, calcined at 200 °C.