Abstract
The effect of gamma-rays on structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of TiO
2
nanoparticles under controlled atmospheres are studied to further improve photocatalytic performance. The sol–gel TiO
2
powders were deposited with spin-coating technique, annealed at 500°C then finally irradiated by gamma-rays. The structural and optical characteristics of samples were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectroscopy (UV). The time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculation are used to determine ground geometries and electronic structures of TiO
2
nanostructures. DFT calculations present an excellent conformity with experimental results, and a high anisotropy in stretched thermal and electrical conductivity TiO
2
nanostructures was found. Structural and optical results show that gamma radiation did not change the crystallinity of TiO
2
nanostructures and leads to an optical band gap reduction to 3.039 eV. The gamma radiation effect on photocatalytic performance was investigated by methylene blue degradation as a typical pollutant. Gamma radiation has been discovered to improve considerably the degradation of pollutants compared with unirradiated TiO
2
.
Graphic Abstract