Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye by Gold Nanoparticles Coated Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes

This work studies the photocatalytic dye degradation efficiency of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated titanium dioxide nanotubes. The titanium dioxide nanotubes were synthesized using the electrochemical anodization technique at different anodization time durations ranging from 60 s to 3600 s. A thin layer of colloidal AuNPs is spin-coated on the TiO2 nanotube surface. The TiO2 nanotubes with different lengths and pore diameters were synthesized and their effect on the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye was studied. This investigation was performed with a 0.1 mM concentration of methylene blue. The photocatalyst study was conducted under UV light and sunlight for 240 minutes. The surface morphology, crystal phase, structures and, optical properties were characterized using a FESEM, X-ray diffractometer, UV-Visible spectrophotometer, and Photoluminescence spectroscopy. This study demonstrates the significance of nanoscale engineering in the manipulation of the properties and functions of TiO2 nanotubes for efficient photocatalytic dye degradation.