Abstract
Due to the high variation in the reported photocatalytic activity results related the use of titania; the most famous photocatalyst, the reasons for such variation are investigated in the current article. Seven samples of commercial titania (TiO2) which produced from different sources were obtained and carefully characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption measurements Raman spectroscopy, DR UV-vis spectroscopy, and elemental analysis, to establish the physical properties and chemical structure of those samples. The photocatalytic behaviour of the investigated samples was evaluated through the decolourization reaction of methyl orange (MO) aqueous solution under black light illumination (wavelength = 367 nm) as a light source. The results showed that several parameters can affect the photocatalytic activity such as the morphological structure, the texture properties, the presence of contaminations, and the -OH density of the surface. Amongst the investigated samples, the sample with two different phases (anatase and rutile) exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity per gram catalyst.