Ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of Ti[O.sub.2] nanoparticles and its application in photocatalysis

Anatase Ti[O.sub.2] nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized at 130°C for 2 days via ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal method. The obtained products are characterized using various techniques. The X-ray diffraction data reveal that the nanoparticles are anatase Ti[O.sub.2]. FTIR spectrum shows that the presence of ionic liquid and indicates Ti-O-Ti peak at around 398 [cm.sup.-1], and the bands at 1500 and 1600 [cm.sup.-1] indicates C-H in-plane vibrations and stretching of imidazolium ring. Raman spectroscopy show bands at 142, 393, 513, and 636 [cm.sup.-1] reveal crystalline anatase phase. UV-Vis spectroscopy shows the [λ.sub.max] at 355 nm corresponding to a band gap of 3.49 eV. TEM images reveal that the average diameters of anatase Ti[O.sub.2] nanoparticles are in the range 50-100 nm. Anatase Ti[O.sub.2] exhibited excellent photocatalysis for the degradation of organic dye.