Abstract
Pure TiO2, Y-N single-doped and codoped TiO2 powders and thin films deposited on glass beads were successfully prepared using dip-coating and sol-gel methods. The samples were analyzed using grazing angle X-ray diffraction (GXRD), Raman spectroscopy, time resolved luminescence, ground state diffuse reflectance absorption and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). According to the GXRD patterns and micro-Raman spectra, only the anatase form of TiO2 was made evident. Ground state diffuse reflectance absorption studies showed that doping with N or codoping with N and Y led to an increase of the band gap. Laser induced luminescence analysis revealed a decrease in the recombination rate of the photogenerated holes and electrons. The photocatalytic activity of supported catalysts, toward the degradation of toluidine, revealed a meaningful enhancement upon codoping samples at a level of 2% (atomic ratio). The photocatalytic activity of the material and its reactivity can be attributed to a reduced, but significant, direct photoexcitation of the semiconductor by the halogen lamp, together with a charge-transfer-complex mechanism, or with the formation of surface oxygen vacancies by the N dopant atoms.
Highlights
Nowadays, organic pollutants produced by some industries are harmful to human health and living creatures
As can be seen from these FE-scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs, relatively dense, uniform, nano-granular film can be seen from these field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) micrographs, relatively dense, uniform, and nano-granular film was was obtained for all samples
Y, N-doped or codoped TiO2 powders and thin films deposited on glass beads were successfully prepared using the sol-gel method, Ti (OBu)4 as Ti precursor
Summary
Organic pollutants produced by some industries are harmful to human health and living creatures. Owing to the urgent need for a clean and comfortable environment, photocatalysis offers great potential for the elimination of toxic chemicals in the environment through its efficiency and broad applicability. Among many semiconductors and photocatalysts, titanium dioxide TiO2 , in the form of thin films, powders or nanostructured layers, is close to be an ideal bench mark photocatalyst in the environmental photocatalysis applications, due to its many desirable properties such as inexpensive, readily available, biologically and chemically inert, and good photoactivity [1,2]. Between many chemical elements used as dopants for TiO2 , rare earth elements such as Doping TiO2 with rare earth elements is employed to enhance the photochemical activity regarding degradation of organic pollutants in aqueous media and to shift the irradiation wavelength from the UV to the visible range
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