Synthesis and Characterization of TiO2 Nanoparticles via Hydrothermal and Sol-Gel Technique for Water Treatment

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has attracted significant interest for water treatment applications due to its non-toxic nature and high photocatalytic activity. In this study, TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using two different methods to evaluate their photocatalytic performance in degrading organic contaminants from wastewater. Sample S1 was prepared via the sol–gel method, while sample S2 was synthesized using a hydrothermal approach. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that both samples crystallized in the tetragonal anatase phase, with average crystallite sizes of 12 nm for S1 and 29 nm for S2. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) revealed spherical particles with uniform morphology for both samples. Optical absorbance measurements conducted using UV–vis spectrophotometry yielded estimated band gap energies of 3.2 eV for S1 and 3.0 eV for S2. Both samples demonstrated notable photocatalytic activity; however, S2 exhibited superior degradation efficiency against organic pollutants, indicating that the hydrothermally synthesized TiO2 possesses enhanced photocatalytic properties. These results underscore the potential of TiO2 particularly that synthesized via hydrothermal methods, as an effective photocatalyst for wastewater treatment applications.