Ag/Co/B tri-doped TiO2/SiO2 film for enhancing photocatalytic degradation

Abstract

Ag/Co/B tri-doped TiO2/SiO2 film was prepared by the sol–gel method, and the structure and properties of this film were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) test method, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), differential thermal analysis-thermogravimetry (DTA-TG), photoluminescence (PL), and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV-vis DRS). XRD results indicated that the film structure of this film conforms to the anatase single crystal form. The presence of SiO2 can inhibit the formation of brookite and prevent the conversion of anatase into rutile. BET and FE-SEM results revealed that the film had a higher specific surface area and smaller grain size compared with pure TiO2 film. DTA-TG results exposed that the film had excellent thermal stability at 450[Formula: see text]C. Due to the spectacular adsorption capacity of SiO2 and the Schottky barrier formed between Ag and TiO2, this film improved the h[Formula: see text]/e[Formula: see text] separation efficiency and optical absorption performance showed by PL results. UV-vis DRS results displayed that the band gap energy (2.47 eV) of the film was clearly lower than that of pure TiO2 film, due to the intermediate energy levels generated by Co and B ions doping. The photocatalytic activity of the film was verified by ultraviolet and visible light degradation experiments of two different organic pollutants. The experimental results exhibited that the film had excellent photocatalytic degradation ability and stability. Ultimately, a possible synergistic mechanism of photocatalysis was proposed in this paper.