Hybrid manufacturing process for the synthesis of doped TiO2 nanoparticles and optimization to determine an efficient photocatalyst

Abstract

The hybrid sol-gel method was used to synthesize the transition metals (Cu and Ag) doped TiO2 nanoparticles for achieving enhanced visible light response photocatalysts. Different characterization techniques such as UV–Visible, FESEM, EDS, and TEM were carried out to characterize prepared nanocomposites. The synthesized Cu/TiO2 and Ag/TiO2 photocatalysts exhibit redshifts with improved light absorption capacity compared with pure TiO2. Scanning electron microscopic images show almost spherical morphology with relatively uniform sizes. Photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) and hydrogen production were carried out to estimate the photocatalytic efficiency of synthesized photocatalysts. As a result of increased charge separation efficiency and higher visible light absorption for photoexcitation, the photocatalytic response of the modified photocatalyst was elevated. In this study, the significant factors like initial pH, nitrate concentration, and dopant were identified. These factors were investigated in terms of hydrogen generation as a response to the successful optimization for the determination of the most efficient photocatalyst. In addition, in this work, density functional theory was used to simulate metals (Cu/Ag) doped TiO2 to learn more about the impact of doping on the structural, electrical, and photocatalytic properties of TiO2. Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite prepared via nitrate precursor concentration of 0.9 M and operated at an initial pH value of 4 exhibits maximum hydrogen generation capacity.