Abstract
A comprehensive study on the sulfur doping of TiO2, by means of H2S treatment at 673 K, has been performed in order to highlight the role of sulfur in affecting the properties of the system, as compared to the native TiO2. The focus of this study is to find a relationship among the surface, structure, and morphology properties, by means of a detailed chemical and physical characterization of the samples. In particular, transmission electron microscopy images provide a simple tool to have a direct and immediate evidence of the effects of H2S action on the TiO2 particles structure and surface defects. Furthermore, from spectroscopy analyses, the peculiar surface, optical properties, and methylene blue photodegradation test of S-doped TiO2 samples, as compared to pure TiO2, have been investigated and explained by the effects caused by the exchange of S species with O species and by the surface defects induced by the strong H2S treatment.
Highlights
Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) is widely used for photocatalysis
Our study aims to contribute to these themes, as it reports a quite extensive chemical and physical characterization of the surface properties of S-doped TiO2, obtained after H2 S treatment
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of TiO2 before and after H2 S dosage at 673 K for 1 h are shown in Figure 1, together with the typical crystalline features of anatase (PDF card # 21-1272) and rutile (PDF card # 21-1276) phases, as highlighted by blue and green lines
Summary
Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) is widely used for photocatalysis. It has attracted considerable attention because of its characteristics, including optical properties, reactivity and chemical stability, as well as its non-toxicity [1,2]. TiO2 -based photocatalysts have been used for significant applications, such as antibacterial actions [3], medical research [4], drug delivery [5], and self-cleaning fields [6] Most of all, this material is widely used in the degradation of pollutants in air and water by the decomposition of organic compounds [7,8]. Despite its outstanding photocatalytic properties, TiO2 is only able to absorb a small range of the UV portion of the solar spectrum [9], because of its relatively high band gap. To solve this problem, the most-used strategy is the engineering and shift of the TiO2 band gap to the visible light region, in such a way to enhance its photocatalytic activity. It has been found that metals are able to induce a desired band gap shift, and induces recombination centers, reducing the photocatalysis capability in combination with thermal instability [13]
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