Visible light photocatalytic activity of TiO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite prepared using modified microwave technique

A facile method for in-situ dressing of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with TiO₂ nanoparticles was achieved using modified microwave technique. TiO₂/MWCNT nanocatalyst was formed using titanium (IV) isopropoxide as the precursor in the presence of MWCNTs and constantly irradiated for 5 min. FE-SEM micrographs suggested that TiO₂ nanoparticles were well attached on the outer sidewall of MWCNTs. XRD measurement revealed that the TiO₂ exist in anatase form with the calculated crystallite size of approximately 5 nm. XPS results show that TiO₂ contacts closely with MWCNTs via Ti-O-C bonds. The photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite was evaluated based the degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation. The results showed that 1 mg of TiO₂/MWCNTs hybrid nanocatalyst efficiently degraded the dye.