Probing Photocatalytic Characteristics of Sb-DopedTiO2under Visible Light Irradiation
Sb-doped TiO2nanoparticle with varied dopant concentrations was synthesized using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) and antimony chloride (SbCl3) as the precursors. The properties of Sb-doped TiO2nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), fluorescence spectrophotometer, and Uv-vis spectrophotometer. The absorption edge of TiO2nanoparticles could be extended to visible region after doping with antimony, in contrast to the UV absorption of pure TiO2. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of Sb-doped TiO2nanoparticles was much more active than pure TiO2. The 0.1% Sb-doped TiO2nanoparticles demonstrated the best photocatalytic activity which was better than that of the Degussa P25 under visible light irradiation using terephthalic acid as fluorescent probe. The effects of Sb dopant on the photocatalytic activity and the involved mechanism were extensively investigated in this work as well.