Optical and photocatalytic properties of the Fe-doped TiO2 nanoparticles loaded on the activated carbon

Abstract

In this work, Fe-doped (1 wt%) TiO2 loaded on the activated carbon nano-composite was prepared using a sol-gel method. A prepared nano-composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), BET surface area, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic activity of the nano-composite was evaluated through degradation of synthetic textile wastewater, reactive red 198, under visible light irradiations. The XRD result indicated that the TiO2 nano-composite contained only anatase phase. The surface area of the TiO2 increased from 48 m2/g to 100 m2/g through the fabrication of the nano-composite. The FE-SEM results indicate that the TiO2 particles with an average particle size of 35–70 nm can be deposited homogeneously on the activated carbon surface. DRS showed that the Fe doping in the TiO2 -activated carbon nano-composite induced a significant red shift of the absorption edge and then the band gap energy decreased from 3.3 to 2.9 eV. Photocatalytic results indicated that the photocatalytic activity of the Fe doped TiO2 increased under visible light irradiation in the presence of the activated carbon.