Effect of Pt treated fullerene/TiO2 on the photocatalytic degradation of MO under visible light

Platinum treated fullerene/TiO2 composites (Pt-fullerene/TiO2) were prepared using a sol-gel method. The composite obtained was characterized by FT-IR, BET surface area measurements, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-vis analysis. A methyl orange (MO) solution under visible light irradiation was used to determine the photocatalytic activity. Excellent photocatalytic degradation of a MO solution was observed using the Pt-TiO2, fullerene-TiO2 and Pt-fullerene/TiO2 composites under visible light. An increase in photocatalytic activity was observed and Pt-fullerene/TiO2 has the best photocatalytic activity, which may be attributable to increase of the photo-absorption effect by the fullerene and the cooperative effect of the Pt.