Synthesis of F-Doped Flower-like TiO2 Nanostructures with High Photoelectrochemical Activity

Abstract

We report on a novel and facile approach for the direct growth of F-doped flower-like TiO₂ nanostructures on the surface of Ti in HF solutions under low-temperature hydrothermal conditions. The influence of the experimental parameters such as temperature, reaction duration, and the HF concentration on the morphology and photoelectrocatalytic activity of the formed F-doped flower-like TiO₂ nanostructures was systematically studied. The presence of HF and the reaction time play an important role in the formation of the F-doped flower-like TiO₂ nanostructures. The synthesized novel F-doped TiO₂ flower-like nanomaterials possess good crystallinity and exhibit high photoelectrochemical activity for water-splitting and photodegradation of organic pollutants compared with P-25, which is currently considered to be one of the best commercial TiO₂ photocatalysts. The approach described in this study provides a simple and novel method to synthesize F-doped TiO₂ nanostructured materials that are ready for practical applications such as the photodegradation of wastewater.