Preparation of novel nanometer TiO2 catalyst doped with upconversion luminescence agent and investigation on degradation of acid red B dye using visible light

Abstract

An unreported nanometer TiO2 photocatalyst doped with upconversion luminescence agent (40CdF2·60BaF2·0.8Er2O3) utilizing visible light was prepared. Its photocatalytic activity was checked through the photocatalytic degradation of acid red B as a model compound under visible light irradiation. Results show that the upconversion luminescence agent prepared as dopant can effectively turn visible lights to ultraviolet lights, which can be absorbed by nanometer TiO2 particles to produce the electron-cavity pairs. Therefore, the photocatalytic ability of this novel TiO2 photocatalyst has greatly been enhanced compared with undoped and common TiO2 photocatalyst.