Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activity of Pure and N-, B-, or Ag- Doped TiO2

• Autor(a) principal: Bezerra,Paula C. S.
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Cavalcante,Rodrigo P., Garcia,Aline, Wender,Heberton, Martines,Marco A. U., Casagrande,Gleison A., Giménez,Jaime, Marco,Pilar, Oliveira,Silvio C., Machulek Jr.,Amilcar
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-50532017000901788
• topic: photocatalyst; sol-gel method; N-doped TiO2; UV-ABC irradiation; visible-light activity

This article reports the synthesis and characterization of pure and N-, B-, and Ag-doped TiO2 and the ability of these oxides to photodegrade methylene blue (MB) under sunlight or UV-ABC radiation. The compounds were synthesized using the sol-gel method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Photocatalytic efficiency was significantly increased by N-doping, resulting in 98% MB decomposition under UV-ABC irradiation for 180 min. Ag- and B-doped TiO2 lowered MB degradation rates to 52 and 73%, respectively, compared with pure TiO2. The same behavior was observed with exposure to UV-Vis, with 88, 65, 60, and 42% MB removal with N-doped, pure, B-doped, and Ag-doped TiO2, respectively. Under visible light alone, N-doped TiO2 exhibited higher photocatalytic efficiency than commercial P25-type TiO2. Photocatalysis with N-doped TiO2 proved to be a promising alternative for MB degradation, given the potential of employing solar energy, thus minimizing operating costs.