Photocatalytic Degradation Characteristics of Organic Compound by Boron-doped TiO2 Catalysts

Abstract

Boron-doped TiO₂ photocatalysts were synthesized by a modified sol-gel method and their photocatalytic activities were performed and compared with those of pure synthetic and commercial TiO₂ catalysts under UV or visible light conditions. Pure TiO₂ itself exhibited very negligible photocatalytic performance under visible light conditions in the aspects of toluene decomposition reactions, although significant decomposition potential was observed as expected with UV light conditions. However, boron doping over TiO₂ significantly improved photocatalytic activity particularly under visible conditions, where over 95% degradation of toluene was achieved with 1wt% B-TiO₂ within 2 hrs. All the decomposition reactions seemed to follow pseudo firstorder kinetics. The effects of boron-doping and its characteristics are further discussed through the kinetic studies and comparison of results.