Abstract
Defect engineering through elemental doping is an efficient way to boost the performance of semiconductor photocatalysts. Herein, transition-metal (TM) doped titanate nanowires (TNWs) were prepared via ion-exchange over the titanate precursors and demonstrated for the Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. The ion-exchange of selective ions (V5+, Cr3+, Ni2+, and Zn2+) with protons from pristine TNWs resulted in the hierarchical meso-porosity of nanowires with large pores of ∼5–20 nm by TM doping and small pores of ∼3.6–4.5 nm inherited from pristine TNWs, which facilitates the mass transfer while maintaining high surface area and active sites. Meanwhile, the TM intercalation partially reduces the Ti4+ to Ti3+ and narrows the optical bandgap, which, together with oxygen vacancies and superoxide radicals from pristine TNWs, enhance the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation performance of RhB. This work helps to elucidate the effects of transition-metal doping and provides a rational strategy towards high performance titanate-based photocatalysts for efficient and sustainable wastewater treatment.
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