Influences of Rare-Earth Ions Doping on the Structure and Photocatalytic Activity of TiO<sub>2</sub>

Abstract

Rare-earth (RE)-doped TiO2photocatalysts were prepared by doping samarium ions into TiO2nanoparticles in a sol-gel process. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) in water under UV light irradiation. Finally, influences of rare-earth ions doping on the structure and photocatalytic activity of TiO2were studied using grey correlation analysis method based on multi-variable grey model. The experimental results indicated that the doping modifications of TiO2work through the structure change in nanoscale, leading to the change of activities. It was also found that the main actors influencing on activity of RE-doped TiO2are crystalline size (D) and crystal constant (a) for the MO photodegradation base on the grey relational analysis method. Using the same method above, the activities of RE-doped TiO2photocatalysts could be predicted and doping concentration need to be optimized.