A visible light driven doped TiO۲ nanophotocatalyst: Preparation and characterization

A useful nanophotocatalyst (La,S-TiO۲) was prepared by a sol-gel method and characterized by UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence emission spectroscopy (PL) and scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results showed that the La,S-TiO۲, which calcined at ۵۵۰ °C, contained only anatase phaseand its crystal size was ۲۳ nm. In addition, the FESEM analysis indicates that the La,S-TiO۲ nano particles with diameter of ۲۰ to ۲۵ nm could have a good dispersion in solution. In order to evaluate of activity of the modified synthesized photocatalyst (La,S-TiO۲), comparison between modified synthesized TiO۲ (La,S-TiO۲) and pure synthesized TiO۲ for degradation of Methyl Orange was investigated. It was found that the modified synthesized photocatalysis (La,S-TiO۲) has much higher photocatalytic activity than undoped TiO۲ for the degradation of contamination.

Keywords:

Nanophotocatalyst , La , S-TiO۲ , Methyl orange , Contamination , Synthesized , Sol-gel Method