In,V-codoped TiO2 nanocomposite prepared via a photochemical reduction technique as a novel high efficiency visible-light-driven nanophotocatalyst

چکیده مقاله

In the current study, a series of novel and high efficient photocatalysts of In, V-codoped TiO2were developed. The TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by sol–gel and hydrothermal methods and then different molar percentage (0.1-1%) of vanadium (V) and Indium (In) nanoclusters were deposited over TiO2 nanoparticles via photochemical reduction. XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, XPS and UV-Vis DRS analysis were carried out to characterize the prepared In, V-codoped TiO2 nanocatalysts and methyl orange (MO) was used as probe environmental pollutant to test the photocatalytic performance of the prepared catalysts under UV and visible light irradiation. Our findings demonstrated that In and V nanoclusters were successfully deposited over TiO2 particles via photochemical deposition technique and the metal doping slightly suppressed TiO2crystal growth. The optical analysis showed a red shift in light absorption spectrum and decreases inband gap of In, V-codoped TiO2 catalysts compared to that of parent TiO2. XPS study revealed that the doped elements of In and V are in oxidation state of 3 (In III ), 4 (V IV ) and 5 (V V ), respectively. The photo-oxidative decomposition of MO showed that doping of In and V can considerably improve photocatalytic activity of TiO2. Thus, for the first time, we have demonstrated that TiO2codoped with binary metals of In and V can serve as high efficient visible-light-active photocatalyst.