Facile one-pot solvothermal approach to produce inorganic binary TiO2@NiTiO3 and ternary Au-TiO2@NiTiO3 yellow nano-pigment for environmental and energy use

Hybrid titanium dioxide (TiO2) nickel titanate (NiTiO3) perovskite nanomaterials (TiO2@NiTiO3) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) supported on hybrid titania@nickel titanate (Au-TiO2@NiTiO3) were successfully synthesized using a modified solvothermal wet chemical procedure. A pigment yellow powders were obtained with high crystallinity as characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). TiO2 exhibits the anatase phase despite the calcination at 600 °C and NiTiO3 was found as expected to be in the ilmenite structure while gold retains the cubic structure. As will be shown below, the calcination treatments prove that the crystalline phase of the sample is very sensitive to the heat treatment. The obtained binary and ternary nanocomposites exhibit good optical response with interesting energy gap. The optical property of the nanocomposites was exploited for photocatalytic application against dyes molecules. The hybrid nanomaterial shows efficient photocatalytic activity compared to bare TiO2. Au/TiO2@NiTiO3 shows superior photocatalytic efficiency contrasted to TiO2 and to hybrid TiO2@NiTiO3 that make it a promising photocatalyst for diverse applications counting photovoltaic devices and solar cells.