A novel hydrothermal method to synthesize brookite titanium dioxide nanosquares for efficient pollutant degradation

Photocatalysis is a cost-effective method to degrade and remove pollutants, using semiconductor catalysts such as titanium dioxide. The brookite form of titanium dioxide could be as efficient or more efficient compared to the anatase and rutile forms, yet the synthesis of brookite titanium dioxide is actually arduous. Here, we synthesized brookite titanium dioxide nanosquares using a mixture of titanium(IV) bis(ammonium lactato) dihydroxide and titanium oxychloride at low temperature. We observed pure brookite TiO2 nanosquares with a mean edge length of 51 nm. Brookite nanosquares exhibit better photoactivity for the decomposition of rhodamine B under ultraviolet, compared to common titanium dioxide. The synthetic method is simple and does not need any template, organic additive, or organic solvent. This is the first work addressing the synthesis of brookite nanosquare simultaneously using two kinds of water-soluble titanium precursors.