Titanium dioxide is considered as a highly efficient and desirable semiconductor among all oxide semiconductors. Production of these semiconductors in form of nanoparticles significantly improves their performance. Carbon nanotubes can play an important role in controlling dimensions of titanium dioxide nanoparticles due to their high specific area. Therefore, the effect of carbon nanotubes on light absorption of titanium dioxide nanoparticles has been studied in this research by synthesizing titanium dioxide/carbon nanotube nanocomposite powder.
According to Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council (INIC), the nanocomposite powder synthesized in this research is able to absorb a wide range of light to present better optical properties.
In the presence of carbon nanotubes, the size of nanoparticles decreases and morphology changes from aggregate to filament form. In addition, the value of band gap energy decreases in titanium dioxide. Therefore, this material has photo-cell ability by absorbing light at higher wavelengths. This fact improves catalytic performance of this material.
Results showed that pure titanium dioxide has an energy gap of about 2.44-3.98 eV, which decreases in the presence of carbon nanotubes.
Results of the research have been published in Journal of Applied Spectroscopy, vol. 82, issue 2, 2015, pp. 303-306.
MS/PR