Abstract
The synergic effect of cation doping and phase composition for the further improvement of the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 under visible light is reported for the first time. Fe3+ and Sn4+ co-doped TiO2 with optimized phase composition were synthesized through a simple soft-chemical solution method. The visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity of Fe3+ and Sn4+ co-doped TiO2 was 5 times of that of Evonik P25 TiO2 using degradation of methylene blue as model reaction. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. It is indicated that Sn4+ doping can facilitate the phase transition from anatase to rutile. The different ratios of anatase and rutile can be achieved by tuning the amount of Sn4+ doped into the lattice. Furthermore, the doping of Sn4+ into TiO2 lattice can stabilize the phase composition when Fe3+ is co-doped. In the Fe3+ and Sn4+ co-doped TiO2, Sn4+ is mainly used to tune and stabilize the phase composition of TiO2 and Fe3+ acts as a doping cation to narrow the band gap of TiO2. Both band gap and phase composition of TiO2 can be tuned effectively by the simultaneous introduction of Fe3+ and Sn4+. The synergic effect of optimized phase composition (anatase/rutile=25/75) and narrowed band gap should be the two main reasons for the promoted photocatalytic activity of TiO2 under visible light.
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