Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic properties of rod-shaped titanium dioxide

Rod-shaped titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) powder was successfully synthesized by simple inexpensive solution growth technique with and without the aid of biosurfactant-palmitic acid. The synthesized TiO 2 powder was characterized using advanced techniques such as X-ray diffraction analysis, Scanning electron microscope (SEM) with Energy dispersive analysis, Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FT-IR), Photoluminescence and Micro Raman spectral studies. SEM observation of the synthesized TiO 2 powder clearly shows rod-shaped particle formation which was influenced by palmitic acid. The Ti–O–Ti stretching band at 450–800 cm −1 was confirmed by FT-IR studies. The synthesized rod-shaped titanium dioxide strongly decomposes the Alizarin Red S dye under UV light irradiation. The maximum dye decolourization efficiency of 99.4 % was achieved by the addition of rod-shaped TiO 2 powder.