Photoelectrocatalytic decomposition of Acid Black 1 dye using TiO2 nanotubes

TiO2 nanotube arrays were prepared by anodization with titanium anode and platinum cathode by electrochemical and sonoelectrochemical technique. The rate of formation of the TiO2 nanotubes by the sonoelectrochemical method is found to be almost twice as fast as the electrochemical method. The photocatalytical activities of TiO2 nanotubes were tested in the photoelectrocatalytical degradation of aqueous solution of a commercial dye Acid Black 1, comparatively with various commercial TiO2 photocatalysts. The results showed that sonoelectrochemically prepared TiO2 tubes exhibited 10% higher photocatalytic performance than the electrochemical prepared ones, and more than 20% higher activity than the other TiO2 samples. Furthermore, the effects of various operating parameters such as dye concentration, temperature and light intensity were also investigated in the photoelectrocatalytic degradation. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.