Photocatalytic oxidation of organic dyes by nano-sized metal molybdate incorporated titanium dioxide (MxMoxTi1-xO6) (M = Ni, Cu, Zn) photocatalysts

Different metal molybdates incorporated titanium dioxide were prepared by the chemical solution decomposition (CSD) method. Among many transition-metal molybdates, nickel molybdate incorporated titanium dioxide (NMTI) was found to be more photoactive than P25 TiO2 and other metal molybdate doped TiO2 (MxMoxTi1-xO6) (M = Ni, Cu, Zn; x = 0.05), for photocatalytic oxidation of various dyes solution to harmless decolorized solution at room temperature with the help of Hg lamp. The prepared nano powders were characterized by XRD, UV-vis spectra, specific surface area (BET), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum, EPR spectrum and TEM analyses. The average particle size of NMT1 was found to be 15 nm measured from TEM and calculated band gap from adsorption edge is found to be 2.66 eV. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.