Lanthanum-Doped Titania Film Coated on Light Leakage Fiber Photo-Degradation Methyl Orange

Abstract

Lanthanum-doped anatase TiO2 coatings, which are composed of assemble crystalline of 50 nm diameter particles, when the percentage of dopant is 0.5 wt%, have been successfully fabricated by sol–gel dip-coating process on light leakage silica fiber (LSF) which length is 15cm and diameter is 125μm. This was achieved by adjustment of the lanthanum-doped sol–gel parameters such as molar ratio of precursors in lanthanum-doped TiO2-sols, the ratio of titanium tetrabutoxide to polyvinyl alcohol, dip-coating velocity, drying duration in air, thermal treatment and number of cyclical time of the process. Titania nano crystals were prepared at ambient temperature in a liquid media using titanium tetrabutoxide as precursor, and the crystallization of amorphous precursor was preceded by peptizing with acid and then refluxing for a periodic time in homothermal water-bath. The photocatalytic properties of the La-TiO2 films had been testified by the photo degradation of methyl orange. The lanthanum-doped anatase TiO2 thin films were characterized by XRD and TEM. The products show much improved photocatalytic activity that will be useful in the design of a novel antibacterial, deodorant and antipollution photo reactor.