6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
**Tours now open!** Registration is now closed - All registration payments are due before 23:39 SAST on 26 June.

Influence of TiO₂ Morphology on Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution: A Comparative Study of Spherical and Mesoporous Structures

7 Jul 2026, 17:20
1h 20m
Great Hall (University of the Western Cape)

Great Hall

University of the Western Cape

Poster Presentation Track A - Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials Poster Session 1

Speaker

Japhtalinah Lehutso (Department of Physics, CSET, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa)

Description

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) has attracted considerable attention as a promising material for catalytic applications due to its chemical stability, low cost, and tunable structural properties. In this study, two distinct TiO2 morphologies, namely spherical and mesoporous structures, were synthesized via a sol-gel method using titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) as the precursor. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was introduced as a pore forming agent to generate the mesoporous structure, and both samples were annealed at 350 °C to improve crystallinity. The structural and morphological properties of the synthesized materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis. The electrocatalytic performance toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic medium was evaluated using linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), Tafel analysis, cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and chronoamperometry (CA). This comparative study provides insight into the influence of morphology on the physicochemical properties and catalytic activity of TiO₂-based electrocatalysts.

Consent on use of personal information: Abstract Submission Yes, I ACCEPT

Authors

Dr Dieketseng Tsotetsi (Department of Physics, CSET, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa) Japhtalinah Lehutso (Department of Physics, CSET, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa) Prof. Mokhotjwa Dhlamini (Department of Physics, CSET, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.